Clashes between Shiite militias left dozens of people dead and hundreds wounded
Pastor Dale Morgan
Clashes between Shiite militias left dozens of people dead and hundreds
wounded*
# Story Highlights
# NEW: Al-Sadr calls for calm after Shiite militias clash in Karbala,
Baghdad
# Up to 50 people killed and 247 others wounded in Karbala clashes
# Fighting spreads to Baghdad; Mehdi Army torches offices, official says
# Tensions high between Shiite militias during religious celebration
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Clashes between Shiite militias left dozens of
people dead and hundreds wounded in Karbala and Baghdad, prompting
Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday to call for calm, his
spokesman said.
Iraqi special forces patrol Karbala on Monday as thousands of Shiite
pilgrims stream into the holy city.
A curfew and weapons ban were in effect and Shiite pilgrims were
evacuated from the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, where fighting has
killed up to 50 people and wounded 247 others, the Iraqi Interior
Ministry said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced late Tuesday that the
Iraqi military was in control of Karbala and blamed the violence on
"armed criminal gangs."
The violence erupted Monday night in Karbala, where hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims were attending a Shiite religious festival, and
spread to Baghdad on Tuesday. Video Watch how the fighting began »
Five people were killed in Baghdad, where al-Sadr's followers torched
six offices belonging to the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq,
authorities said.
Al-Sadr has called for calm, banned further fighting and urged members
of the Mehdi Army militia to guard the Islamic Council offices and
officials, according to Sheikh Ahmed al-Shibani, a senior al-Sadr aide
in Najaf. Al-Sadr also called for an investigation into the clashes and
for those behind the attacks to be punished, his spokesman said.
The attacks were accompanied by fighting between the Badr Organization
and the Mehdi Army. The Badr Organization, part of the Supreme Islamic
Council of Iraq, has been incorporated into Iraqi security forces
throughout the country. The Mehdi Army is the militia of al-Sadr.
In Sadr City, where two of the political offices were burned, the Iraqi
army called in reinforcements and air support while battling the Mehdi
Army, an Interior Ministry official said.
The Mehdi Army also set fire to the Dawa Party's office in Kadhimiya, an
Interior Ministry official said. Al-Maliki is a member of the Dawa Party.
Shiite pilgrims in Karbala were celebrating Sha'abaniya, the birthday of
Imam al-Mehdi, the 12th Imam, whom Shiites revere. The celebrations were
to peak Tuesday and Wednesday.
The pilgrims in Karbala were evacuated from the city center, and a full
curfew was imposed, said Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, an Interior
Ministry spokesman.
There is also a ban on bicycles, motorbikes and pushcarts.
A curfew also was in effect in nearby Najaf, a Shiite holy city to which
many pilgrims fled after the Karbala fighting began, Najaf police said.
The fighting was apparently spurred by a security measure that banned
people from carrying weapons into Karbala, an Interior Ministry official
said. The al-Sadr loyalists refused to give up their guns, leading to
clashes between the Sadrist fighters and security forces protecting the
shrines, an Interior Ministry official said.
The Mehdi fighters have accused the security forces of being members of
the Badr Organization.
Pilgrims and members of the security forces are among the casualties.
Local officials convened Tuesday to discuss how to defuse the situation.
Tensions have been high between the armed wings of the major Shiite
political movements. Targeted assassinations and battles between the
Badr Organization and Mehdi Army have been prevalent in recent months.
Other developments
• A deputy oil minister and four other kidnapped employees of the Iraqi
Oil Ministry were freed Tuesday after two weeks in captivity, the oil
ministry said. The deputy oil minister, Abdul Jabber al-Wagga, and the
four general managers are in good health and have returned home, the
ministry said.
• Several hundred U.S. and Iraqi troops converged on Iraq's Diyala
province, killing 33 insurgents and restoring a city's water service,
the U.S. military said. The troops carried out an air assault Monday in
the Gobia community to restore water in nearby Khalis. The military said
"water is currently flowing unimpeded."
• A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest Monday in the courtyard
of a mosque in Falluja, killing 12 people, including an imam known for
speaking out against Iraqi militants, an Interior Ministry official
said. Two of his sons also were killed in the blast, according to the
official.
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• Coalition forces killed eight terrorists and arrested 11 suspected
terrorists during raids targeting al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, the military
said Tuesday. The raids, spanning two provinces northeast of Tikrit,
targeted a senior-level adviser with links to international terrorist
Khalid al-Turki, the military said. Al-Turki was killed during a June 23
operation.
• A "highly sought weapons facilitator" was arrested Tuesday in Baghdad,
the military said. The individual is suspected of distributing bombs and
smuggling weapons from Iran to Iraq, the military said.