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Massive
Attack Feared, US Tells Najaf Residents To Leave
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US troops are said to be ready to attack fighters holed up inside Imam Ali Shrine
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NAJAF,
Iraq, August 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In an
unprecedented move seen as a prelude to a feared massive attack on
some of the holiest religious places in Iraq, US forces called
Tuesday, August 10, on Najaf residents to evacuate their homes.
The
call came as fighting between US-led troops and Mehdi Army fighters,
loyalists of Iraqi firebrand Shiite scholar Moqtada Al-Sadr, raged for
the seventh day, bringing about a halt in output from southern Iraqi
oilfields and sending world oil prices soaring.
US
troops in Humvees drove through the center of the Shiite city, using
loudspeakers to call on civilians to evacuate the zone immediately and
on Mehdi Army fighters to leave, reported Agence France (AFP).
Residents
told AFP it was the first time US troops had called for a mass
evacuation, adding that they feared a massive attack on bastions of
Sadr's Mehdi Army in the city's cemetery and the shrine of Imam Ali,
one of Islam's holiest sites.
In
another sign an imminent massive attack could be on the making, US
Marines have taken over as the lead force in Najaf from the Polish
troops, according to CNN International.
"The
decision to order the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit to take over
control in Najaf and neighboring Qadisiya from a Polish-led
multinational contingent was because of the "deteriorated
security situation" in Najaf, the US-led coalition said in a
statement."
Permission
From Najaf Governor
Knowing
how thorny and sensitive it is to launch any massive attacks against
Imam Ali Shrine and the old cemetery in Najaf, US military officials
declared late Monday that the US-appointed governor of Najaf has given
their troops permission "to enter the Ali shrine" to attack
what he called "militants".
"We
respect the shrine and any action taken will be on the order and
direction of the governor," the spokesman said, according to AFP.
CNN
further quoted a US commander as saying the US forces and Iraqi
National Guard troops had surrounded the Imam Ali Shrine and were
sweeping the cemetery in an operation he called "measured and
methodical."
Artillery
and tank shells earlier Tuesday pounded positions in the vast
cemetery, which was the scene of heavy bombardment Monday by US
marines backing Iraqi government police, said an AFP correspondent.
A
thick column of black smoke also rose from near the Imam Ali Shrine,
and Iraqi police in trucks were seen heading for the area while two US
helicopters flew overhead.
On
Monday, Sadr
vowed to fight to "defend Najaf until my last drop
of blood" and rejected calls by interim Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi for his men to lay down their arms and leave the city.
Later
Monday, US President George W. Bush said "we're making pretty
good progress about stabilizing Najaf" during a visit by Polish
Prime Minister Marek Belka.
Clashes
Spill Over
In
a sign fighting could possibly spill over, Baghdad neighborhood of
Sadr City witnessed intense clashes for three and a half hours early
Tuesday when a US patrol came under repeated attacks, according to
AFP, as it drove through the center of the sprawling slum.
A
US military spokesman said there had been Iraqi casualties, but no
injuries to US soldiers or damage to any equipment.
Sporadic
gunfire and mortar rounds continued to explode in Sadr City later in
the morning. Shops remained boarded up and the main road closed to
traffic as armed militiamen roamed the streets, said an AFP
correspondent.
A
curfew had officially been imposed until 8:00 am Tuesday in the wake
of fierce fighting between Sadr followers and US forces that has left
many dead.
The
health ministry said that most of the 12 people reported killed and
127 wounded in the capital in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning were
taken to hospitals in Sadr City.
A
British soldier was also killed Monday during clashes with Iraqi
fighters as Sadr supporters vowed to turn Basra into a "second
Najaf".
The
health ministry said two people were killed and six wounded in clashes
with the Mehdi Army in Amara in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning.
Northwest
of Kut, three civilians were wounded, including one seriously, when a
roadside bomb exploded as a Ukranian convoy passed through Numaniyah,
said police local chief Colonel Ali Jabbar Kadhim.
The
Shiite city of Kut, south of Baghdad, fell to Sadr loyalists in the
spring before US forces and Iraqi police wrested back control in
April.
The
British military said it was not conducting patrols through Basra and
understood that Iraqi police were in full control of the city, which
has so far escaped a mass escalation.
Violence
also continued elsewhere, as an Iraqi National Guard officer on patrol
was shot dead in the flashpoint city of Fallujah by gunmen, said
police and a doctor.
Oil
Supplies Halted
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Najaf residents were told by US troops to evacuate their homes
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Following
public threats from at least two Sadr aides in the southern port of
Basra against key oil infrastructure, an official with the state-owned
Southern Oil Company announced Monday a halt in crude pumping
"for security reasons."
The
oilfields of Shiite southern Iraq are the only source of crude Iraqi
exports since an attack on a pipeline artery to Turkey limited
deliveries from the main northern oilfields last week. The halt sent
New York crude to an all-time high.
Light
sweet crude for delivery in September surged 1.02 dollars to 44.97
dollars a barrel early afternoon, thundering past the previous record,
set Friday, of 44.77 dollars.
But
an AFP correspondent said that limited amounts of crude for export
were being loaded at Basra Tuesday.
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