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Thursday, Apr 08, 2004

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Front Page

40 killed in U.S. attack on Fallujah mosque

By Atul Aneja

Supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr chant anti-U.S. slogans in Sadr city, Baghdad's largest Shia neighbourhood, on Wednesday. — AP

MANAMA, APRIL 7. The uprising in Iraq against American occupation gathered momentum today with Shia fighters taking control of three major towns and holding on to three others. Kirkuk in the north emerged as the new flashpoint.

In the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah, where a major U.S. operation is under way, around 40 persons were killed when a U.S. helicopter fired three missiles at a mosque compound.

The U.S. military command in the country today threatened to "destroy" the key Shia militia heading the uprising after the killing of 12 U.S. troops in an attack in the restive town of Ramadi on Tuesday. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, told a news conference that, "in the central and southern regions of Iraq, coalition and Iraqi security forces are conducting operations to destroy the Mehdi army."

The Mehdi army is the militia loyal to the firebrand Shia cleric, Moqtada al Sadr.

The attack on the mosque in Fallujah took place when worshippers had gathered for afternoon prayers. Soon after the strike, cars ferried bodies from the scene to makeshift hospitals that were set up in private homes.

Angry residents gathered around the mosque, whose wall was partly destroyed. Mosques in Fallujah have called for a "holy war" against Americans. Women carrying guns were seen on the streets before the attack.

In Kirkuk, in the north, an estimated 1,500 people took part in a violent demonstration protesting against the U.S. "massacres" in Fallujah. At least eight Iraqis were shot dead and 12 wounded in an exchange of fire with U.S. forces.

In the fighting for the Sunni cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, at least 30 Americans and more than 150 Iraqis were reported killed.

Analysts say that the attack in Ramadi, dominated by Sunnis, could be "diversionary" and intended to ease the pressure on fighters encircled in Fallujah. It is seen as the first major instance of military coordination between Sunni and Shia guerilla fighters.

As the anti-American revolt swept through Iraq, Shia fighters brought down a U.S. helicopter in Baquba, a town on the outskirts of Baghdad. Television pictures showed the chopper burning on a field, but there has been no word on casualties so far.

(A Reuters report from Beirut quoted a top aide of Mr. Al Sadr as saying that the cleric's forces had captured a number of coalition soldiers during clashes throughout Iraq.)

On the fourth day of the revolt, Ukrainian forces allied to the U.S. occupation have withdrawn from the southern Iraqi town of Al Kut, which is now under the control of Mr. Al Sadr's forces. The Mehdi army has also taken a firm hold on Kufa, on the outskirts of Najaf, as well as on Diwaniyeh, the first town that has fallen to the militia.

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