Battles Erupt Across Iraq
U.S. troops battled with insurgents in two central Iraqi towns Wednesday a day after a dozen Marines, two more coalition soldiers and scores of Iraqis were killed in the most extensive fighting since President Bush declared the war over in May.
Fighting was spreading in several directions at once, with Shiite militiamen attacking coalition troops and taking control of several southern cities.
Marines this week launched a major operation to root out Sunni Muslim guerrillas from one of their strongest bastions, the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. But on Tuesday, the insurgents opened a new front with a bloody attack on Marines in the nearby town of Ramadi.
Gunmen hiding in Ramadi's main cemetery opened fire on U.S. patrols, sparking a gunbattle in alleys and near the governor's palace, witnesses said, reporting at least two Iraqis were killed.
A Marine commander Wednesday confirmed that 12 Marines died in two battles that raged over three hours in Ramadi, one of them across a mile-long front. The commander also said his troops had captured fighters from Syria.
New fighting erupted in the same Ramadi neighborhood on Wednesday, witnesses said.
In the south, Shiite militiamen attacked coalition troops in five cities Tuesday in battles in a revolt sparked by a U.S. crackdown on their leader, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr urged Iraqis to rise up against the U.S. occupation and vowed to die rather than be captured by U.S. forces. "America has shown its evil intentions, and the proud Iraqi people cannot accept it," he said in a statement. "They must defend their rights by any means they see fit."
In other developments:
The U.S.-led coalition announced an arrest warrant for murder against al-Sadr on Monday and suggested it would move to capture him soon, after a series of weekend uprisings in Baghdad and cities and towns to the south that took a heavy toll in both American and Iraqi lives.
Clashes continued overnight between militiamen from al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army and coalition troops in Kut, Karbala and the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad. At least 12 Iraqis were killed in Kut and four in Baghdad, along with two Iranians caught in the crossfire in Karbala, according to doctors.
Al-Sadr's black-garbed militiamen have also clashed with troops in Nasiriyah and Amarah.
The al-Mahdi Army appeared to be in control of Kut and Kufa, occupying government buildings and roaming the streets, as Iraqi police stood aside. Witnesses reported that a British civilian working for a private security company was killed when militiamen took over the company's office in Kut.
In Fallujah, Marines and gunmen were engaged in heavy battles in the Dubat neighborhood on the eastern side of the city and in other part in the center of the city, witnesses said. U.S. warplanes opened fire on groups of Iraqis in the street.
Rocket-propelled grenade fire set a U.S. Humvee ablaze, injuring soldiers inside, witnesses said.
U.S. warplanes firing rockets destroyed four houses in Fallujah after
nightfall Tuesday, witnesses said. Among the dead were 26 people — including 16 children and up to eight women, said Hatem Samir, head of the clinic at Fallujah Hospital. Others were killed in street battles before dawn and into the day Wednesday.
Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Iraqi police have surrounded Fallujah, west of Baghdad, since Monday. The dusty, Euphrates River city 35 miles west of Baghdad is a stronghold of the anti-U.S. insurgency that sprang up shortly after Saddam Hussein's ouster a year ago.
Heavy fighting also occurred Tuesday between Marines entrenched in the desert and guerrillas firing from houses on Fallujah's northeast outskirts. For hours into the night, the sides traded fire, while teams of Marines moved in and out of the neighborhood.
"I think we killed a lot of bad guys," Marine Maj. Joseph Clearfield said.