BAGHDAD, 7 April 2008 — Iraqi troops backed by US forces battled Shiite supporters of Moqtada Sadr in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood in clashes that killed 22 people and wounded more than 50 despite a cease-fire between the government and the militia, officials said yesterday.
Officials of the American military said that fighting broke out overnight in Sadr City, a stronghold of Sadr’s fighters. Officials at two local hospitals said 22 people were killed and 92 wounded.
The officials did not say whether the casualties were civilians or fighters.
The US and Iraqi security forces released no information about the casualties.
A police officer said that a US Stryker armored personnel carrier was damaged in the fighting, which continued with sporadic exchanges of fire throughout yesterday.
Two armored Humvee vehicles and two trucks belonging to the Iraqi Army were also destroyed, said the officer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
However, the US military said it had no information about a Stryker being damaged.
Last week, Sadr issued a cease-fire order and the government agreed to halt raids against his followers.
Although scattered clashes were reported between Sadr’s fighters and Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government relaxed security measures on Saturday around the Mehdi Army strongholds of Sadr City and the Shula neighborhood.
In an effort to ease conditions for Sadr City’s 2.5 million residents, the government has allowed trucks carrying maintenance teams, food, oil products and ambulances into the area.
A vehicle ban remains in effect as part of a curfew imposed on Baghdad after fighting broke out between government forces and Shiite fighters March 25. The curfew has been lifted in the rest of Baghdad.
Green Zone Attacked
Several rockets or mortar rounds exploded inside the US-controlled Green Zone yesterday, and four civilians were injured outside the area by rounds that fell short, police said. The US military confirmed the shelling but provided no details.
Last week’s offensive against the Mehdi Army in the southern city of Basra ground to a halt amid fierce resistance from the militiamen. During the operation, nearly 1,000 government soldiers and policemen deserted and handed over their weapons and vehicles to the Mehdi fighters.
“It was obvious that there was negligence among some members of our security forces and this issue will be dealt with according to the law,” Tahseen Al-Sheikhli, spokesman for the Baghdad security operation, told reporters yesterday.
Students Waylaid
To the north, police said gunmen seized 42 students off a bus near the city of Mosul — Al-Qaeda’s last major urban stronghold — but later released them unharmed.
Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Sattar said the students were waylaid about 32 km south of Mosul on the main highway to Baghdad.
Three other students on a second bus were wounded when gunmen opened fire as the driver managed to speed away, he said.
The hijacked bus was then driven onto a farm road, where all the students were released after the gunmen made sure they were not members of the security forces, Abdul-Sattar said.
US Officials to Brief Congress
The two top American officials in Iraq — Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker — are to brief Congress tomorrow on the situation in Iraq and prospects for further reductions in the US troop presence.
Britain this month suspended plans to remove 1,500 soldiers from its 4,000-member force in southern Iraq after fighting broke out in Basra between Iraqi troops and Shiite fighters and spread quickly to Baghdad and other cities.
Also yesterday, hundreds of mourners gathered in the capital’s Karradah district for the funeral of Father Youssef Adel, an Assyrian Orthodox priest slain the day before at his home.
One of the mourners, Midhat Faez, said the assassination was aimed at provoking conflict between Muslims and the tiny Christian community.
“As Christians, we are terrified and our numbers are gradually diminishing,” Faez said.
