- Title: IRAQ: Four killed in U.S. air raid in Baghdad's Shi'ite bastion
- Date: 25th July 2007
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JULY 25, 2007) (REUTERS) BLACKENED EXTERIOR OF HOUSES, STREET AND BLACKENED AND DAMAGED PAVEMENT PEOPLE NEAR BLACKENED HOUSES HOUSE WALL BLACKENED BY ATTACK/ DAMAGED WINDOW CAR DAMAGED IN AIR STRIKE DOOR OF CAR RIDDLED WITH SHRAPNEL PEOPLE GATHERING IN NARROW ALLEY BLOOD STAIN ON OUTER WALL OF HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic), ABU KAMAL AL-DARAJI, A RESIDENT O
- Embargoed: 9th August 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: War / Fighting
- Reuters ID: LVAB35YUZWMXGTF1O2W9UP8ZZHTO
- Story Text: U.S. forces raided Baghdad's main Shi'ite slum of Sadr City early on Wednesday (July 25), killing four civilians and wounding 10 others, residents said.
The U.S. military could not be reached immediately for confirmation.
Residents of Sadr City in east Baghdad, a bastion of fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia, said the attack started around 0230 am local time on Wednesday (2330 GMT on Tuesday July 24) and involved helicopter-fired missile strikes in the densely populated slum of two million in northeastern Baghdad.
Television footage showed blackened houses and at least two damaged, shrapnel-riddled cars in the neighbourhood.
"What can people do? They are resigned to the will of God. There is no government which people can rely on," said Abu Kamal al-Daraji, a resident of the Shi'ite slum.
Grieving residents placed coffins containing the victims of the airstrike atop mini-van busses to transport the bodies to places of burial.
Tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have been engaged in a series of offensives in and around Baghdad to try to stem car bomb attacks, which are mainly blamed on the Sunni Islamist organisation al Qaeda in Iraq.
Washington blames rogue Mehdi Army elements of using technologically advanced roadside bombs, which are made from components smuggled in from Iran, to target U.S. troops. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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