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Fierce clashes erupt in Baghdad

US and Iraqi troops have killed 38 militants in fierce clashes in Baghdad, including 22 who attacked a military checkpoint in a Shiite militia stronghold, the US military said yesterday.

Suspected Shiite extremists, apparently taking advantage of a sandstorm that blanketed the capital, attacked several checkpoints and hammered the US-protected Green Zone in the fiercest salvo in weeks on Sunday. The sandstorm had grounded the US aircraft that normally prowl for launching teams.

Yesterday morning, the insurgents lobbed more rockets or mortar shells toward the Green Zone, which houses the US embassy and much of the Iraqi government on the west side of the Tigris River. Alarms could be heard and the public address system in the area warned residents to take cover and stay away from windows.

The fighting escalated as cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, rejected terms set by the Iraqi government for lifting a crackdown against his Mehdi Army militia.

The clashes on Sunday were concentrated in Sadr City, the stronghold of the Mehdi Army, where US soldiers used Abrams main battle tanks to repel the attackers.

The US and Iraqi soldiers came under attack “by a large group of criminals,” the US military said in a statement.

Eight civilians were killed and 58 injured in clashes in Sadr City since Sunday, local health officials said yesterday.

On Sunday, the US military claimed success with operations that have effectively sealed off the southern section of Baghdad’s Sadr City, a militia stronghold that is believed to be one of the prime launching sites for the Green Zone attacks.

The Green Zone has been regularly shelled since fighting broke out over a US-backed government crackdown against militias that began late last month. US commanders have blamed what they call Iranian-backed Shiite factions they say have broken with a ceasefire imposed by al-Sadr in late August.

On Sunday, al-Sadr’s spokesman in Najaf called the Shiite-led government’s terms for ceasing the crackdown against the militias “illogical.”

Salah al-Obeidi accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, of wanting to resolve the problem by force instead of dialogue.
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