US helicopter gunships opened fire on Shiite militants hiding in Najaf's massive cemetery yesterday as US patrols armed with speakers warned the militants to leave the city immediately or face death.
US tanks drove into the cemetery, explosions shook the streets and black smoke rose over parts of the city, but the fighting with militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia appeared more sporadic than in recent days.
A large fire broke out at a hotel about 300m from the Imam Ali Shrine, Najaf's holiest site, which fighters have reportedly been using as a base. Witnesses said insurgents were firing from inside the hotel when US forces returned fire.
In a new tactic to try to quell the violence, US military vehicles equipped with loudspeakers drove through the streets warning residents to stay away from the fighting and for militants to put down their weapons and leave Najaf or else they would be killed.
"We ask residents to cooperate with the Iraqi army and police," said a voice through a loudspeaker. "There will be no truce or negotiations with terrorists."
Small clashes also broke out in the Baghdad Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, despite a nighttime curfew that was imposed on Monday.
Mehdi Army militants have been targeting US patrols with gunfire and have tried to set up roadblocks in the neighborhood, but US forces tore them down, said US Captain Brian O'Malley of the 1st Brigade Combat Team. There were no US casualties, he said.
While US and Iraqi forces were trying to quell the eruption of Shiite violence, attacks by Sunni Muslim militants persisted.
A roadside bomb detonated as a US military vehicle drove on a street in central Baghdad yesterday, slightly injuring two soldiers, the military said.
Another insurgent group also warned in a videotaped message that it would launch a campaign of attacks on government offices in Baghdad starting yesterday, telling employees to stay away.
The sixth day of Shiite violence came after al-Sadr warned on Monday that he would fight "until the last drop of my blood has been spilled."
Clashes intensified around Basra, where a British soldier was killed and several others wounded in fighting with militia near the cleric's office on Monday, the UK's Ministry of Defense said. Three militants were killed and more than 10 others wounded, a senior Iraqi police official said.
US President George W. Bush said on Monday that coalition forces were "making pretty good progress about stabilizing Najaf."
Much of the fighting in Najaf remained centered on the vast cemetery near the Imam Ali Shrine. The US military said Mehdi Army gunmen were launching attacks from the cemetery and then running to take refuge in the shrine compound.
Also see stories:
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
RSS