- Oct 9, 1999
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From the NY Times (sub site):
"American forces said today that they had killed some three dozen militiamen loyal to a rebel Shiite cleric during two days of fighting that included the destruction of the cleric's Baghdad headquarters in the Sadr City slum district here.
American armored vehicles bombarded the walls of the compound, which contains the offices of the cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, and a small mosque, witnesses said. The building had been evacuated and there were no casualties, witnesses said.
But later, the United States military said 18 of Mr. Sadr's followers had been killed during heavy nighttime fighting that echoed around the capital. Those deaths came on top of at least 18 militiamen reported killed in fighting on Sunday."
"The American military said that all of the 18 fighters it killed on Sunday had been carrying rocket-propelled grenades. No American casualties were reported. A Sadr City hospital official, Abdul-Jabbar Soulagh, said that at least 9 had been killed and 32 wounded in the battle.
The militia fighters took to the streets of the neighborhood after Americans detained several people, including Mr. Sadr's lieutenant and a man accused of being his financier, at Mr. Sadr's office on Saturday.
The militia was reported to have taken over some municipal buildings in Sadr City, in northeastern Baghdad, and to have blocked off roads in parts of the district. Many shops were closed there on Sunday."
In Sadr City, the walls of Mr. Sadr's headquarters were pocked with big holes, and shrapnel from a missile lay among the rubble.
"At 2:00 a.m., tanks and armored vehicles entered out street," said a tribal leader, Sheikh Fakher al-Azawi, who was helping to clean up the small mosque. "Our youth responded to that force. People were hiding in their houses. It was a street battle."
"I think the Mahdi Army attacks will continue until the complete withdrawal from our land," he added. "We are all Mahdi Army."
"American forces said today that they had killed some three dozen militiamen loyal to a rebel Shiite cleric during two days of fighting that included the destruction of the cleric's Baghdad headquarters in the Sadr City slum district here.
American armored vehicles bombarded the walls of the compound, which contains the offices of the cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, and a small mosque, witnesses said. The building had been evacuated and there were no casualties, witnesses said.
But later, the United States military said 18 of Mr. Sadr's followers had been killed during heavy nighttime fighting that echoed around the capital. Those deaths came on top of at least 18 militiamen reported killed in fighting on Sunday."
"The American military said that all of the 18 fighters it killed on Sunday had been carrying rocket-propelled grenades. No American casualties were reported. A Sadr City hospital official, Abdul-Jabbar Soulagh, said that at least 9 had been killed and 32 wounded in the battle.
The militia fighters took to the streets of the neighborhood after Americans detained several people, including Mr. Sadr's lieutenant and a man accused of being his financier, at Mr. Sadr's office on Saturday.
The militia was reported to have taken over some municipal buildings in Sadr City, in northeastern Baghdad, and to have blocked off roads in parts of the district. Many shops were closed there on Sunday."
In Sadr City, the walls of Mr. Sadr's headquarters were pocked with big holes, and shrapnel from a missile lay among the rubble.
"At 2:00 a.m., tanks and armored vehicles entered out street," said a tribal leader, Sheikh Fakher al-Azawi, who was helping to clean up the small mosque. "Our youth responded to that force. People were hiding in their houses. It was a street battle."
"I think the Mahdi Army attacks will continue until the complete withdrawal from our land," he added. "We are all Mahdi Army."
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