Violence erupts in southern Iraq (US forces and Mehdi Army)

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Elsewhere, police said clashes had erupted between US and Iraqi forces and fighters from the Shia Mehdi Army militia in the city of Diwaniya.

A ban on vehicles has been imposed on the city following a raid by security forces at about 0500 (0100 GMT), police sources in the southern city said.

A number of American vehicles have been destroyed in the fighting, police sources told the BBC.

There have been a series of sectarian killings in Diwaniya - which is 180km (110 miles) south of Baghdad - in recent days, a source in the governor's office said.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6532271.stm

---

Mods, this started as the headline the BBC used, but they've now promoted the story about the truck bomb in Ramadi, originally just a paragraph at the end of the story, to be the main part of the article. I'll leave it up to you if this should get moved to GD instead, since the headline no longer fits.

[maddezmom]

1. Iraqi, U.S. forces sweep into southern Shi'ite city

More DIWANIYA, Iraq, April 6 (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. troops on Friday moved into the southern city of Diwaniya, a stronghold of Shi'ite militia loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in an operation to curb the militia's increasing influence.

The U.S. military said in a statement that Operation Black Eagle aimed "to disrupt militia activity and return security and stability of the volatile city back to the Iraqi government".

Residents and an Iraqi security source in Diwaniya told Reuters a curfew had been imposed and that troops were blocking streets and conducting house-to-house searches.

The security source said police in the city, many of whom are suspected of being infiltrated by Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, had been ordered to stay at home.

"There were clear instructions for local police not to report to work today. The security forces are from outside the city," the source told Reuters.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAR626242.htm

[anotherdrew]

7. "sweep" means = went in looking for someone to fight with - surprise! they found some to shoot with

wow and we manage to loose vehicles, think maybe some troops mighta been hurt too? gee maybe. and for what? what? someone even try to explain what possible value this 'incursion'/gone-looking-for-a-fight has? It's worth nothing to us and the fools that ordered it better know what they've done. damn them.

[maddezmom]

2. all entrances sealed off & accusations the US forces are preventing ambulances to transport wounded

Clashes left one person dead and 19 others wounded on Friday, said Hamid Gaati, head of the local department of health, and a security official.

Gaati accused US forces of preventing ambulances from transporting the wounded to hospital and urged humanitarian organisations to come forward to ferry the casualties to hospital.

At least 1,400 Iraqi soldiers arrived from neighbouring towns such as Kut, Babel and Najaf in order to raid gunmen hideouts in Al-Askari, Al-Jumhuri and Al-Iskan in the northern parts of Diwaniyah, an Iraqi military officer said.

Iraqi troops were supported by US helicopters and ground forces, he added.

All entrances to Diwaniyah were sealed off until further notice "to help us to carry out security plan Black Eagle to impose the law," said an Iraqi security source in the city giving his own version of the name for the operation.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestdiwaniyah_070406102714;_ylt=AqsaqqC5ys_.2M1UyZbLh7yaOrgF

[mediaman007]

3. Can you say Fallujah?

[anotherdrew]

8. of course we're screwing with the ambulances, that is SOP, has been for years

and EVERY CASE is a god-damned WAR CRIME

when will the people ordering these action be held to account? They belong behind bars, "our leaders" have gone mad and they must be made to stop and pay for their actions, we all know it's true and it's the only way we'll EVER live this atrocity down.

[Eugene]

4. (Update) Iraqi, US forces sweep through volatile Iraqi city

Source: Reuters

Iraqi, US forces sweep through volatile Iraqi city
06 Apr 2007 15:20:22 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Updates with details of Diwaniya fighting)

DIWANIYA, Iraq, April 6 (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. forces clashed with Shi'ite
militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al -Sadr in a major operation launched at
dawn on Friday aimed at returning the volatile city of Diwaniya to government
control.

-snip-

A U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Bleichwehl, said three to six
"enemy fighters" were killed, five wounded and 17 captured. U.S. and Iraqi forces
suffered no fatalities, he said.

A Mehdi Army leader said six women and children were wounded when a U.S.
helicopter fired on a hostel in the city. Bleichwehl said the report was untrue.
The militia leader also said four men on motorbikes were shot dead by U.S. and
Iraqi troops.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06480947.htm

[Tempest]

5. What law are they trying to impose?

All entrances to Diwaniyah were sealed off until further notice "to help us to carry out security plan Black Eagle to impose the law,"


Sounds like the Polish ghettos all over again.

[maddezmom]

6. Fierce Fighting Between U.S. and Iraqi Forces, Shiite Gunmen Continues South of Baghdad

By LAUREN FRAYER

BAGHDAD Apr 7, 2007 (AP)— U.S. warplanes attacked suspected militiamen wielding shoulder-fired rockets Saturday in the second day of fierce fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and Shiite gunmen south of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials and witnesses said.

At least one civilian was killed and five were seriously wounded when an American tank fired on their house in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, Iraqi police and hospital officials said. The victims had to be pulled from the rubble of their home, and evacuated to Diwaniyah hospital, police said.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment Saturday on any casualties among civilians or soldiers in Diwaniyah.

In Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed and four were wounded Friday in an attack with an armor-piercing explosively formed projectile, or EFP, the military said in a statement.

more:http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3018304&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[maddezmom]

9. many women killed

But on Saturday, al-Sadr's office in Diwaniyah suggested the fighting was not one-sided and claimed gunmen destroyed three American vehicles and seized a robot used to explode roadside bombs. U.S. officials could not confirm that claim.

Dozens of people have been killed in Diwaniyah during the past weeks and the attacks have been blamed by residents on the Mahdi Army, al-Sadr's militia.

Many women, accused by the hard-line and fundamentalist militiamen of violating their interpretation of Islamic morality, are among the dead. Also targeted are police, residents who work for coalition forces at a nearby Polish army base, journalists and the wealthy, who have been kidnapped for ransom and then killed.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AlWlZj89DQ4NYV2qzUt0Pv5X6GMA

[Eugene]

10. Iraq cleric says fight in Diwaniyah is 'trap' by US

Source: AFP via Middle East Times

Iraq cleric says fight in Diwaniyah is 'trap' by US
AFP

April 8, 2007

NAJAF, Iraq -- Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr Sunday
urged his militiamen and security forces to end their three-day-long
fight in Diwaniyah, saying it was a "trap" by US-led forces.

"He appeals to the Iraqi army and the Mehdi militia not to fall into
America's trap by fighting in Diwaniyah," said a statement stamped
and issued by the cleric's office in the holy city of Najaf.

US and Iraqi soldiers have clashed with Shiite militiamen, including
from Sadr's Mehdi Army, in the central city of Diwaniyah since Friday.

Calling for unity against US troops, Sadr urged local forces not to
support the "occupier because it is your enemy."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070408-091045-8817r