Sources: Up to 12 U.S. troops killed in battle
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and coalition troops are battling supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for a third day Tuesday, with clashes reported in Baghdad and at least four cities in the country's south.
Heavy fighting was reported in the Sunni Triangle city of Fallujah, where U.S. Marines and Iraqi security forces were reasserting control after the killing and mutilation of four civilian security guards last week.
And west of Fallujah late Tuesday, insurgents mounted a large-scale attack against Marines in Ramadi, according to Pentagon officials in Washington.
Preliminary reports indicated as many as a dozen Americans had been killed and more than a dozen wounded, with heavy insurgent casualties, officials said.
A high-ranking military source said initial reports indicated several government buildings in Ramadi had been seized by a force described as fewer than 100 insurgents, who are believed to be remnants of ousted leader Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
In the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq, al-Sadr's militia was in control of government, police and spiritual sites, a coalition source said.
Al-Sadr also was busing followers into Najaf from Sadr City, a Baghdad neighborhood, according to the coalition source, who said that many members of his outlawed militia, Mehdi's Army, were from surrounding provinces.
Al-Sadr -- who is wanted on murder charges in connection with the killing of a rival last year -- reportedly has taken refuge in the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf, one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.
A posting on al-Sadr's Web site said he has called for a general strike.
Qais Al-Khazaal, a spokesman for al-Sadr, said the young cleric wants coalition troops to withdraw from populated areas and release prisoners taken into custody in recent demonstrations.
U.S. Marines moved into Fallujah from several directions, -- coming under heavy fire from insurgents -- in a second day of Operation Vigilant Resolve.
Hospital officials in Fallujah reported at least 10 Iraqis dead and 24 injured, a source inside the city told CNN.
Abrams tanks and infantry fighting vehicles led the Marine columns across a railway line north of the city into urban areas, where they were fired on by assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The tanks and mounted grenade launchers picked off rooftop snipers, destroying at least three houses in the process.
"These are the first of a series of actions taken to attack anti-coalition and anti-Iraqi forces, to re-establish security in Fallujah and begin the process of civil military assistance projects in Fallujah," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
Marines also detained six Iraqis carrying explosives near a command post north of Fallujah, a Marine officer said. The officer said the material was intended to make homemade bombs.
Eleven U.S. soldiers and two coalition troops have been killed in battles with al-Sadr's followers since Saturday. Other attacks in northern Iraq killed two other American soldiers over the weekend, and seven Marines have been killed in western Iraq since then.
Despite the widespread unrest, the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said there is "no question" that coalition forces are in control of the country.
"I know if you just report on those few places, it does look chaotic," Bremer said.
"But if you travel around the country ... what you find is a bustling economy, people opening businesses right and left, unemployment has dropped."
In Baghdad, firefights continued Tuesday, particularly in the Shiite area of Sadr City. Reports also indicated that Italian troops were battling al-Sadr supporters in Nasiriyah.
Fighting broke out between coalition forces and Sadr's Mehdi Army on Saturday, after the arrest of al-Sadr's deputy on charges in connection with Abdul Majeed al-Khoei's death April 10, 2003, outside the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.
Twelve people were arrested last fall when an Iraqi judge issued 25 warrants in the case, including the ones for al-Sadr and his deputy, Mustafa al-Yaqoubi, coalition officials said.
Yaqoubi was arrested Saturday in Najaf and turned over to Iraqi police Monday, they said.
Coalition officials announced Monday that al-Sadr is wanted on a murder charge in connection with that killing as well.
About 50 Iraqis were reported killed around the country in Tuesday's clashes. Hospital sources said 36 of those were killed in battles with U.S. troops in Baghdad's Sadr City district, a Shiite slum named for the rebellious cleric's assassinated father.
Bremer described al-Sadr on Tuesday as "a guy who has a fundamentally inappropriate view of the new Iraq."
"He believes that in the new Iraq, like in the old Iraq, power should be to the guy with guns," Bremer said. "That is an unacceptable vision for Iraq."
The instability prompted the United Nations to temporarily halt convoys bringing Iraqi refugees back from Iran in the south.
In Najaf, a spokesman for al-Sadr said al-Sadr had "received many letters from other religious leaders" supporting him, mentioning Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani -- the most senior cleric to Iraqi Shiites.
"Sistani said in his letter that he supported us for standing for what we believe ... but that he also thought that we should try to resolve this matter in a more calm and civil way," Qais al-Khazaal said.
Referring to a letter sent by Bremer shutting down the pro al-Sadr -- and anti-coalition -- Al-Hawza, Khazaal said lawyers have determined the action was "illegitimate and against all laws."
"We will form a case and fight this," he said.
Pentagon sources said the military would exercise caution in seeking al-Sadr in an attempt to avoid giving him more stature among radicalized Iraqis.
In Washington, Pentagon officials played down reports that American troops' tours of duty in Iraq could be extended to bolster the U.S. occupation force there. Though that is one possibility, one official said it was not under "active consideration."
About 134,000 U.S. troops are now in Iraq, but that number is scheduled to drop to 110,000 over the next few months as part of a scheduled rotation of forces.
Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, has directed planners to draw up options to bring in more troops if needed.
But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. commanders in Iraq have not asked for more troops.
"At the present time, they've announced no change in their plans, but they could make such a request at any time," Rumsfeld said. "They will decide what they need, and they'll get what they need."
Other developments
Since the start of the war, 622 U.S. troops have died, 428 of them in hostile fire. Since May 1 when President Bush announced the end of major combat in Iraq, 313 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile action.
Britain is sending thousands of troops to Iraq to replace those already serving there, said Maj. Rachel Grimes of the Ministry of Defense. She said the move was part of a "normal" six-month rotation and would not result in an increase in the number of British troops in Iraq.
CNN's Jane Arraf, Jim Clancy, Barbara Starr, Kevin Flower and Kianne Sadeq contributed to this report.
-Robert
Facebook
Twitter