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US jets bomb suspected militia stronghold in Basra

US jets widened the bombing of Basra yesterday, dropping two precision-guided bombs on a suspected militia stronghold north of the city hours after strafing a house and reportedly killing eight civilians, officials said.

Major Tom Holloway, a British military spokesman, said US jets dropped the two bombs on a militia position in Qarmat Ali shortly before 12:30pm.

The southern city of Basra is Iraq's commercial and oil hub, and Shiite militants have been battling Iraqi and coalition forces there for a week.

The number of people killed in the strikes was not yet known.

Earlier, a US warplane strafed a house in Basra and killed eight civilians, including two women and one child, Iraqi police said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.

It was not possible to independently verify whether those killed in the first operation were civilians or combatants.

The bombings came one day after the first US airstrikes were launched in Basra during a week-old offensive against followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to remain in Basra until security in the city is restored.

Al-Maliki, speaking on government television yesterday, told tribal leaders in the southern city that he "will not leave Basra until security is restored" and those who have taken up arms against the government will be punished.

The fight for Basra is crucial for al-Maliki, who is staking his credibility on gaining control of the city, which has essentially been held by armed groups for nearly three years.

In Baghdad, Iraqi police said US helicopters carried out airstrikes on the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City on Friday night. Television footage showed destroyed buildings and the smoking wreckage of at least one car.

The US military said in an e-mail that the only air assault it carried out last night was in the Kazamiyah neighborhood, west of Sadr City, killing 10 militants.

Iraq's Health Ministry, which is close to the Sadrist movement, yesterday reported at least 75 civilians have been killed and at least 500 others injured in a week of clashes and airstrikes in Sadr City and other Baghdad neighborhoods.

The US military sharply disputes the claims, having said that most of those killed were militia members.

Some 40 policemen in Sadr City handed over their weapons to al-Sadr's local office, one of the policemen said.

"We can't fight our brothers in the Mehdi Army, so we came here to submit our weapons," the policeman said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
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