KUFA, Iraq – A five-hour firefight erupted among palm groves along the Euphrates River on Friday between U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the first major combat engagement between the two sides since U.S. forces converged in the area on a mission to capture or kill al-Sadr.
Three U.S. soldiers were wounded, including one who was shot in he head and was not expected to survive. About 20 members of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army were believed killed in the battle along a two-mile stretch of palm trees on the opposite side of the river from Kufa, U.S. authorities said.
The intense battle outside this southern Iraq city raised new questions about whether a peaceful resolution can be negotiated in the standoff between al-Sadr, a vociferous critic of the U.S.-led occupation, and U.S. authorities, who accuse the firebrand cleric of inciting violence and plotting the murder of a rival Shiite religious leader.
Al-Sadr’s supporters seized Kufa and the neighboring holy city of Najaf early this month after a series of skirmishes in Baghdad with U.S. troops. Several Shiite religious leaders, along with a delegation of Iranians, have since sought with limited success to broker a resolution to the standoff between the young cleric and the United States.
In recent days, several brief battles have broken out between U.S. troops and al-Sadr’s militia on the outskirts of Kufa and Najaf. During the much more extensive battle Friday, U.S. troops dropped more than 150 mortars on al-Sadr’s forces after surrounding them.
Up to 40 members of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army engaged in the fierce fight with about 130 U.S. troops, according to Capt. Chris Budihas of the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, the unit involved in the fighting.
When al-Sadr’s forces began to weaken after several hours of bombardment, reinforcements arrived in boats and across the bridge from the town of Kufa. Other al-Sadr militiamen began spraying machine-gun fire across the river at U.S. soldiers.
U.S. snipers killed at least three al-Sadr followers as they attempted to cross the river, but U.S. troops decided to pull back rather than risk having the fight spread into the city.
U.S. officials have promised to attempt to keep any fighting outside of Kufa and Najaf – which border one another – because of the cities’ religious and historical significance.
While attempting to stay out of the towns, U.S. forces have stepped up attempts to capture al-Sadr followers on the outskirts of the cities.
As part of that effort, U.S. troops returned to that same traffic circle Friday, this time with tanks and armored vehicles. Al-Sadr forces fired at least six rocket-propelled grenades, briefly setting a tank on fire. During the fighting at the traffic circle, the U.S. soldier was shot in the head.
The two other wounded American troops were hit with shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade during the larger battle about an hour later and a mile away, deep inside the groves.
Intelligence reports suggested that al-Sadr’s forces were using the area as a base for operations, and three U.S. platoons set out early Friday morning on a mission to sweep the area. They surrounded the groves and began encircling al-Sadr’s militiamen.
“None of us have ever really actually fired a shot before,” said Pvt. Jay Bradley, 20, of Alabama, as his unit set out on the patrol. “We’re itching to do that.”
After hearing the boom of mortars and learning of the wounded soldier at the traffic circle, Bradley said, “Today has been exciting enough already. I just want everyone to come home. That’s more important than shooting.”
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