IRAQ: U.S. airstrike in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City targets militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr

Record ID: 339472

  • Title: IRAQ: U.S. airstrike in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City targets militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
  • Date: 22nd April 2008
  • Summary: WOMEN SHOUTING NEAR BODY VARIOUS OF COFFINS PEOPLE NEAR COFFINS WOMAN CRYING VARIOUS OF MEN LOADING COFFIN ON TOP OF MINIBUS
  • Embargoed: 7th May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA23BSODYGMNLVQF4QMOSYIY0G
  • Story Text: Residents reported on Wednesday (April 23) that a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad's sprawling Shi'ite slum of Sadr city killed 18 people and wounded 14 others.
    Hospital sources put the death toll to five killed and 22 wounded in the airstrike.
    U.S. forces have not given any immediate comment on the incident.
    On Tuesday (April 22), U.S. military confirmed they had killed five militants in Sadr City, where fighting has raged for weeks between Shi'ite militiamen and security forces.
    Hundreds have died in the Baghdad stronghold of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on his Mehdi Army militia last month.
    Sadr has demanded a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and threatened over the weekend to wage "open war" if Maliki did not call off the campaign against his fighters in Baghdad, the southern oil-hub of Basra and other Shi'ite areas.
    Since Sadr issued his threat on Saturday (April 19), the U.S. military says it has killed around 50 militiamen in Sadr City and other Shi'ite parts of Baghdad.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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