BAGHDAD, April 7, 2008
5 U.S. Troops Killed In Bloody Day In Iraq
Blast Kills 3 Alleged Militants In Basra; Violence Intensifies Ahead Of Gen. Petraeus' Report
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Play CBS Video Video Violence Ignited In Sadr City Violent fighting in Sadr City has erupted between Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces and Shiite gunmen. Lara Logan reports.
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Video On Patrol In Sadr City "Only On The Web:" Lara Logan speaks with U.S. Army Captain Logan Veath, as American forces patrol Sadr City in order to push Shiite militias farther away from the Green Zone.
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Neighbors in the al-Asdiqa neighborhood react after their house was destroyed in an explosion in Basra, Iraq, Monday, April 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
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A U.S. Army soldier secures a checkpoint in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City Baghdad, Monday, April 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Interactive Iraq: 5 Years At War Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the war wears on.
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
The military says a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier died in an explosion Sunday during a route-clearing patrol in an eastern section of the capital.
A separate statement says another American soldier also has died of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad.
That raises to two the number of Multi-National Division - North soldiers killed in the blast in the volatile Diyala province. The other death was reported Sunday after the attack occurred.
At least 4,020 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003. That's according to an Associated Press count.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces said a large explosion demolished a building in the southern city of Basra on Monday, killing at least three militants and wounding four.
British military spokesman Maj. Tom Holloway said it was not clear what caused the blast but insisted no British, U.S. or Iraqi forces were involved. An Iraqi police official and witnesses say those killed were gunmen using the abandoned house as a base, and that the building was destroyed in an air strike.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
U.S.-led forces have carried out several airstrikes amid fierce clashes between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi troops. But Holloway says that was not the case this time.
On Sunday, suspected Shiite militants lobbed rockets and mortar shells into the U.S.-protected Green Zone, killing two American troops and wounding dozens more, officials said.
The attacks occurred as U.S. and Iraqi forces battled Shiite militants in Sadr City in some of the fiercest fighting since radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered a cease-fire a week ago. At least 16 Iraqi civilians were killed and nearly 100 wounded in the fighting, according to hospital officials.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued his strongest warning to date on Monday to al-Sadr to disband his militia or face political isolation. The Sadrists said Monday a move to ban them from elections would be unconstitutional.
Aide Hassan al-Zarqani said from Iran that al-Sadr will consult Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and other top Shiite clerics if the government continues to pressure al-Sadr to disband the militia or see his candidates banned from upcoming elections.
A military official said two U.S. troops died and 17 were wounded in the attack on the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters in central Baghdad.
A senior U.S. military official, also declining to be identified for the same reason, said the rockets were fired at the Green Zone from Sadr City while the mortar shells came from another predominantly Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, New Baghdad.
U.S. commanders have blamed what they call Iranian-backed rogue militia groups for launching missiles against American forces. American commanders say Iran supplies the militias with armor-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators or EFPs and other weapons. Tehran denies the allegations.
In related developments:
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The deadly mortar and rocket strikes in Baghdad came despite a strong push by the U.S. military to prevent militants from using suspected launching sites on the southern edge of Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.We lack food, water and electricity. This morning I saw two men being shot by a sniper as they were trying to cross the street near my house.
Hussein Khazim, Sadr City residentFierce fighting erupted in Sadr City earlier Sunday after Iraqi troops backed by U.S. soldiers and attack helicopters tried to advance deeper into the enclave of some 2.5 million people.
American helicopters also fired Hellfire missiles that destroyed a vehicle and killed nine militants who were attacking Iraqi security forces rocket-propelled grenades in the area, the military said in a statement.
The surge in violence came as tensions rose in Shiite areas despite al-Sadr's cease-fire order issued March 30 that ended nearly a week of clashes in Baghdad, Basra and other cities in the Shiite south.
The cleric stopped short of asking his fighters to surrender their weapons, and sporadic clashes have continued.
The inability of the Iraqi security forces to curb the militias has cast doubt on their ability to take over their own security two days before the top American officials in Iraq - Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker - are to brief Congress on the prospects for further reductions in the U.S. troop presence in Iraq.
Al-Sadr has called for a "million-strong" anti-U.S. demonstration on Wednesday in Baghdad to protest the fifth anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by invading U.S. troops.
CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports that any action against the Mahdi Army will likely bring more violence, and the government's ultimatum comes at a crucial point this time - coinciding with al-Sadr's call for a march.
At the edge of Sadr City, Lt. Col. Dan Barnett, the commander of the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, said Iraqi forces had come under sustained fire overnight after establishing checkpoints deeper into the Shiite district.
"They're working to establish control," he said, speaking to a small group of reporters as heavy gunfire resounded outside a joint U.S.-Iraqi base.
The Iraqi government has relaxed security measures Saturday around the Mahdi Army strongholds of Sadr City and the Shula neighborhood, allowing trucks carrying maintenance teams, food, oil products and ambulances into the areas that still face a vehicle ban despite the lifting of a citywide curfew.
But residents continued to complain of hardships.
"Our situation is miserable. We lack food, water and electricity. This morning I saw two men being shot by a sniper as they were trying to cross the street near my house. The government should do something to end our suffering," said Hussein Khazim, a taxi driver who has been out of work since the turmoil erupted in late March.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 200 CommentsSecond Question:
What makes Americans think they can stop tribal wars that have been going on for 1000''s of years?
1 - j-whitman
2 - FallFree1
3 - hungry1968
4 - iceman1960
5 - FloyZepp
6 - MCVet
7 - IRAN
8 - CHINA
9 - Muqtada Al-Sadr
10 - Hugo Chavez
11 - IOWEGN
12 - sgtRDS
13 - joyous88
14 - John Murtha
15 - John Kerry
16 - Joe Biden
17 - Harry Reid
18 - jerr11
19 - Barack HUSSEIN OSAMA
20 - Hillary Clinton
Posted by BaghdadsHere at 06:30 PM : Apr 07, 2008
This kid probably doesn''t even know who or what OBL is ..... OBL is a POS and you''re claiming that faceless posters on this boards are more important than our sworn enemy.
Posted by j-whitman at 06:11 PM : Apr 07, 2008
j-whitman whenever there"s a report of US casualties you log in to bash our troops and post your daily lies. For that reason you beat FallFree1 and advanced to the 1st place on my list.
"The top 20 Americas enemies"
1 - j-whitman
2 - FallFree1
3 - hungry1968
4 - iceman1960
5 - FloyZepp
6 - MCVet
7 - IRAN
8 - CHINA
9 - Muqtada Al-Sadr
10 - Hugo Chavez
11 - IOWEGN
12 - sgtRDS
13 - joyous88
14 - John Murtha
15 - John Kerry
16 - Joe Biden
17 - Harry Reid
18 - jerr11
19 - Barack HUSSEIN OSAMA
20 - Hillary Clinton
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Posted by BaghdadsHere at 06:30 PM : Apr 07, 2008
-BagAdeadsHere, you are the most delusional and unrealistic, fairytale believer, all making you the most clownesque ennemy of this Nation! Oh yeah, for MCVet''s pleasure, your are the widest tongue GOP bootlicker. You make them shine bright!
Just ignore the troll - you just can''t argue with a 13 year old kid hyped up on internet porn and no chance of ever getting a girlfriend.
Posted by mcdazz at 08:13 PM : Apr 07, 2008
Exactly. Even if the EFP''s are clearly marked as being from Iran, there''s no way to know if it was the government, an Iranian company, an Iranian underground terrorist group, etc, etc. It really could be anyone.
It''s really too bad that our government can''t show Iraq how to secure a border, huh?
While I have no doubt that weapons are being smuggled in from Iran, what proof have they offered that the Iranian Gov are behind the supplying of weapons?
Posted by arlt1627 at 08:06 PM : Apr 07, 2008
Yeah - just leave him alone. He''ll be at www.bigfatbikerchicks.com in about ten minutes, and in the bathroom five minutes after that.
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