Iraq's Deadliest Month

Official Says 3,500 Iraqis Died In July; 19 More Killed In Latest Violence

(CBS/AP)  The footage obtained by The Associated Press showed several masked men casually setting up a launcher in a parking lot containing a number of burned out buses before firing the rocket, which streaked across the sky out of view.

The group, calling itself "Screaming the Truth," said the rocket was fired Sunday to demonstrate support for Hezbollah guerrillas who battled the Israelis in Lebanon until a U.N. cease-fire ended 34 days of fighting Monday.

As they prepared to fire the weapon, the militants showed little concern that they might be discovered by a ground or aerial security patrol.

The tape featured a written statement declaring: "Our attacks against America, the sponsor of terrorism, will continue until the Zionist aggression against our people in Lebanon stops."

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told The New York Times that Iran was encouraging Shiite militias to step up attacks on U.S. forces in retaliation for the Israeli assault on Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

Iran's prodding has led to a surge in mortar and rocket attacks on the fortified Green Zone that houses the main components of the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy, he said. Four Australian soldiers were wounded Monday in a rocket attack on the Green Zone.

Much attention has been focused on the security crisis in Baghdad following a wave of sectarian killings. But the unrest in such widely scattered parts of Iraq indicates the precarious state of security elsewhere in this country and the challenge facing U.S. and Iraqi forces in trying to restore order.

The Iraqi army general command said order had been restored in the Shiite holy city of Karbala following street battles the day before between security forces and followers of anti-American cleric Mahmoud al-Hassani, which left 12 dead, including two Iraqi soldiers.

The clashes erupted after police raided the cleric's office, ostensibly looking for weapons. Gangs of al-Hassani's followers roamed the streets Tuesday, firing Kalashnikovs, machine guns and rocket propelled grenades at police and army patrols.

Security forces rounded up 281 people in the wake of the clashes, the army statement said.

Elsewhere, however, hundreds of al-Hassanis followers were gathering in Shiite towns in the area and were threatening to march on Karbala in support of their colleagues there, police said.

Al-Hassani gained prominence for his nationalistic stand, calling for an Iraq free of influence from the Americans and Shiite-dominated Iran. Other key Shiite figures have sought to dampen his influence, which is mostly in Karbala and Basra, Iraq's second-largest city.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, assailants blew up a monument erected to 18 Shiite children who were killed in July 2005 suicide bombing in the city. One American soldier was also killed as he was distributing candy to the children.

Sectarian unrest in the Baghdad area has prompted the U.S. command to order 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements into the streets of the capital. Khalilzad has described sectarian violence in Baghdad as the greatest threat to Iraq's future.

However, many other parts of the country remain unstable after three years of the U.S.-led international military presence, including the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar and Basra, where British forces have failed to prevent Shiite militias from infiltrating the police and security services.