- Title: IRAQ: INSURGENTS THROW BOMBS AT U.S. BASE IN NAJAF, TWO IRAQIS KILLED.
- Date: 4th May 2004
- Summary: (EU) NAJAF, IRAQ (MAY 3, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. LV/PAN (GROUND TO AIR)/GV: U.S. HELICOPTERS FLYING; U.S. TANK IN STREET (3 SHOTS) 0.22 2. GV: EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL, SIGN READING 'NAJAF HOSPITAL 0.29 3. WOUNDED MAN ON STRETCHER; CLOSE-UP OF WOUNDED MAN; DOCTOR APPLYING STICKING PLASTER ON WOUNDED MAN; MAN SHOWING HIS WOUNDS, BLOOD ON SHIRT; WOUND
- Embargoed: 19th May 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NAJAF, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA1JJVV2VANCPQRZZSAPIZVMHV0
- Story Text: Insurgents throw mortar bombs at U.S. base in Najaf.
Two Iraqis killed.
Insurgents lobbed mortar bombs at a U.S. base in the
holy Shi'ite town of Najaf on Monday (May 3, 2004) and exchanged
machine-gun fire with its forces, witnesses said.
Two Iraqis, including a policeman, were killed and 15
wounded in the ensuing battle, hospital sources said.
"We received more than 15 wounded, most of them
seriously. One of them was a policeman who was shot in the
heart. He died. Other people have been been shot in various
parts of the bodies, causing fractures," said Hassan
Abullah, a doctor at Najaf Hospital.
Shi'ite Muslim militiamen of rebel cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr and U.S. troops have fought in and around Najaf in
recent days. U.S. forces said a week ago they had killed 64
militiamen in airstrikes and fighting north of the town.
Monday's fighting centred around the base in the
industrial sector of Najaf, a compound that used to house
Spanish troops, who are in the process of pulling out of
Iraq.
Explosions echoed across town and the crackle of
machine-gun and small arms fire was heard in the area.
There were no immediate reports of any U.S. casualties.
U.S. forces have vowed to capture or kill 30-year-old
Sadr who hails from one of the most respected families in
Najaf, the theological centre of many Shi'ites worldwide.
The uprising has largely died down but Sadr's Mehdi
Army militia still controls Najaf, nearby Kufa and Kerbala
and maintains a presence in many other towns including
Baghdad.
Sadr's followers also clashed with U.S. and British
forces in Amara, a town further south, on Saturday, killing
two U.S. soldiers and wounding at least three Britons.
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