- Title: IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS AND SHI'ITE MILITIA CLASH IN SADR CITY.
- Date: 23rd May 2004
- Summary: (U3) SADR CITY, IRAQ (MAY 23, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. LV: LINE OF US TANKS, NEAR A POLICE STATION 0.10 2. CU/ZOOM OUT/GV: SHAKY CAMERA SHOT OF EMPTY STREET WITH GUNFIRE 0.22 3. GV: TANKS ARRIVING, SHAKY CAMERA SHOTS, SOUND OF GUNFIRE 0.51 4. GV: MAN HIDING BEHIND A STALL 0.53 5. LV: MORE OF STREET WITH AUDIO OF GUNFIRE 0.59 (W4) KUFA, IRAQ (MAY 23, 2004) (REUTERS) 6. GV: EXTERIOR AL SALAH MOSQUE KUFA 1.06 7. GV: DAMAGED WALL OF THE MOSQUE 1.12 8. CU: BLOOD AND CLOTHES ON THE GROUND 1.18 9. CU: BLOOD ON THE FLOOR 1.24 10. GV: LINE OF BLOOD WHERE WOUNDED WAS DRAGGED ALONG THE GROUND 1.30 11. (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) MAN CARRYING BLOODIED CLOTHES SAYING "Where is Iaslam? Where is freedom?" 1.40 12. CU/GV: MORE CLOTHES ON GROUND, WIDE OF MOSQUE (3 SHOTS) 1.58 (W3) NAJAF, IRAQ (MAY 23, 2004) (REUTERS) 13. GV/PAN: WOUNDED BEING BROUGHT TO HOSPITAL 2.06 14. MV/GV: WOUNDED BEING TREATED IN HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) 2.35 15. (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) LOCAL DOCTOR, UNIDENTIFIED, SAYING "So far we have had three dead and thirty six wounded. There are head and chest wounds, all sorts of major injuries. All the causalties were civillians, no police or soldiers among them." 2.49 16. GV: EXTERIORS OF HOSPITAL 2.56 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th June 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SADR CITY, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVADUYNX1GJGYSFU0SN0D1E40E6F
- Story Text: U.S. troops, Shi'ite militia clash in holy cities.
US forces battled militia loyal to rebel Shi'ite
cleric Moqtada Sadr in Baghdad's sprawling Shi'ite slum of
Sadr City early on Sunday morning (May 23, 2004).
The fighting took place as U.S. carried out air strikes
and fought fierce battles against Shi'ite militia around
the Iraqi shrine city of Najaf killing at least 34 people
and wounding dozens.
U.S. troops said they killed about 20 fighters when
soldiers backed by tanks raided a mosque in the
neighbouring town of Kufa. It was occupied by Mehdi Army
guerrillas loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who
launched an uprising last month.
Staff at the main hospital in Najaf said they had taken
in 14 dead and 37 wounded.
Pools of blood lay inside the green-domed Sahla mosque,
one of three main shrines in Kufa. Spent bullet casings
littered the courtyard. The shrine lies about 1.5 km (one
mile) from the town's main mosque where Sadr regularly
preaches.
A CNN correspondent with the U.S. armoured unit quoted
soldiers saying they killed 12 fighters on the edge of the
mosque compound and four or five inside.
A white banner on the mosque read: "Mehdi army:
strength in the face of our enemy." U.S. tanks appeared to
have broken down the wooden outer doors and demolished
archways in the courtyard.
About 100 residents gathered at the mosque, expressing
outrage at the damage.
U.S. aircraft also struck nearby Najaf, where a Reuters
correspondent counted 14 bodies at the main hospital,
including three women. Doctors said the dead appeared to be
mainly civilians and Iraqi police hit at Najaf's main
police station.
The guerrillas rarely bring casualties to the hospital. The
doctors said 37 people were wounded during the
strikes, when U.S. aircraft pounded areas to the north of
Najaf's ancient, sprawling cemetery after midnight (2000
GMT). Intense shelling and could be heard from the Kufa
area until after dawn.
Sadr, whose forces rose up against the U.S. occupation
last month, has taken refuge among Najaf's holy sites but
also has a stronghold at Kufa, where he preaches regular
Friday sermons.
U.S. commanders dismissed on Saturday (May 22) an
offer from a Sadr aide for a deal under which both sides
would withdraw from Najaf and the holy city of Kerbala, 50
km (30 miles) away.
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