IRAQ: Seven US soldiers were killed yesterday in fighting with Shiite militiamen in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, the US military said late last night. At least 24 other American troops were wounded according to the statement. Earlier yesterday at least 23 people were killed in the southern city of Najaf in similar confrontations. Lara Marlowe in Baghdad reports
The military said the fighting in Baghdad erupted after members of a militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of police stations and government buildings in Sadr City, a poor neighbourhood of mainly Shiites on the eastern outskirts of the capital.
"Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces prevented this effort and re-established security in Baghdad at the cost of seven US soldiers killed and more than two dozen wounded," the military statement said.
Sadr City is a stronghold of al-Sadr supporters and the fighting came hours after his followers attacked a coalition garrison in the southern holy city of Najaf. Two coalition soldiers and at least 20 Iraqis were killed in that incident.
The clashes, between supporters of al-Sadr and troops under Spanish orders near Najaf, as well as with US troops in the slums of Sadr City, have opened up a new front in the insurgency against the occupation.
Until now the majority Shia opposed the US occupation verbally, but violent opposition was the prerogative of the minority Sunni.
Twenty Iraqis were killed in a three-hour gun fight between the Spanish "Al-Andalous" base at Kufa and members of al-Sadr's "Army of Mehdi" who entrenched themselves in mechanical shops and junkyards across the road. One US and one Salvadoran soldier died, and 19 Salvadorans were wounded.
Dr Falah al Numha, the director general of health in Najaf, said there were more than 200 people wounded.
The Spanish defence ministry said there had been confusion in its earlier press statement which had reported four Salvadoran soldiers killed and nine wounded when their base in Najaf was attacked yesterday morning.
However, there were conflicting reports about who opened fire first.
The new Spanish government has promised to bring its 1,300 troops home by the end of June unless the UN is given greater responsibility in Iraq.
The US administrator in Iraq, Mr Paul Bremer, said of the violence: "This will not be tolerated. This will not be tolerated by the coalition. This will not be tolerated by the Iraqi people. And this will not be tolerated by the Iraqi security forces."
Mr Bremer spoke at the inauguration of the Iraqi defence ministry and intelligence agency, which he promised would give Iraqis "the means to defend their country against terrorism".
Mr Bremer's rash decision to shut down the weekly newspaper Al-Hawza Nataqa for 60 days sparked a week of protests culminated in yesterday's bloodshed.
"Hawza" is a mouthpiece for al-Sadr, and had articles claiming a US helicopter destroyed an Iraqi police barracks, and compared Mr Bremer to Saddam. However, it has just 10,000 readers in a country of 26 million.
The Shia are also angry about the arrest of Sheikh Mustafa Yacoubi, a close aide to al-Sadr.
Coalition forces had for two days denied holding Sheikh Mustafa, but acknowledged yesterday that he was in detention.
Al-Sadr derives his legitimacy from his family lineage. His father, Ayatollah Mohamed Sadeq al-Sadr, and two brothers were murdered by Saddam's regime in 1999.
The young cleric issued a statement asking supporters to cease protests, which he called futile, but at the same time he called for a sit-in at his mosque in Kufa and told his followers: "Terrorise your enemy; God will reward you well for what pleases him. It is not possible to remain silent in front of their abuse."