IRAQ: U.S. airstrikes kill 10 people in Sadr City

Record ID: 338844

  • Title: IRAQ: U.S. airstrikes kill 10 people in Sadr City
  • Date: 10th April 2008
  • Summary: U.S. HELICOPTER FLYING OVER SADR CITY AREA IN SADR CITY THAT HAS BEEN HIT BY U.S. WARPLANES
  • Embargoed: 25th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA6U1JU25PTDGX410QFCYX7LBI0
  • Story Text: U.S. airstrikes kill 10 people in Sadr City, the Shi'ite slum area of Baghdad, as street fighting appears to ease after four days of clashes.
    U.S. air strikes killed 10 people in a militia stronghold in eastern Baghdad, Iraqi police said on Thursday (April 10), but street fighting appeared to ease after four days of clashes that have killed close to 90 people.
    "What did those families do? what did all those people do to be killed in this way?!" said one Sadr City resident, speaking to Reuters.
    "The reason is our new government. It is our fault to support and elect such a government. It is our fault. What did those families do? What did those martyrs do to be killed in this way," he said.
    The Sadr City slum has been the focal point of battles between black-masked Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and security forces since Sunday (April 6).
    The fighting is a continuation of clashes that erupted late last month when Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki cracked down on the militia in the southern city of Basra.
    The upsurge in violence has coloured an election-year debate in Washington over how fast to withdraw U.S. troops by showing that Iraq's recent security gains are fragile.
    Iraqi police said two separate U.S. air strikes on Thursday morning, which the U.S. military could not immediately confirm, had killed six people and wounded 10.
    Late on Wednesday (April 9), a U.S. helicopter fired two missiles at gunmen who attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi security station in Sadr City, killing four, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police and hospital officials said two of the dead were young boys.
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