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Iraqi Troops Seize Sadr Stronghold

Posted Apr 19, 08 9:11 AM CDT in World 

(Newser) – In a major new clash, Iraqi troops backed by American and British firepower today captured a stronghold of fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra, said Iraqi officials. In a show of force, American planes and British artillery attacked a deserted area outside the Sadr-controlled section of Hayaniya before Iraqi troops moved into the neighborhood and seized the center, Reuters reports.

A Sadr spokesman pointed to “tragic” humanitarian conditions in Hayaniya. “They have surrounded the district and are preventing the wounded from going to hospitals,” he said. Another Sadr rep said fighters were not resisting because of the cleric’s August  ceasefire order. Meanwhile, clashes in Baghdad’s Sadr City last night killed 12 and wounded some 130, police say.

Sources Reuters, Associated Press

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Residents carry a coffin during a funeral procession in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, April 19, 2008.   (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
British Army trucks guard a road as Iraqi Army soldiers take positions during a military operation in Basra, Iraq, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Saturday. April 19, 2008.   (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
An Iraqi man is seen through a hole in a window in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 19, 2008.   (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Iraq war • US military • Baghdad • Moqtada al-Sadr • Basra • Sadr City • Iraq Army • British military


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