Iraqi health officials say 10 dead in Sadr City over 24 hours

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi health officials say at least 10 people have been killed in the past 24 hours in the Baghdad district of Sadr City.

The enclave of 2.5 million people and a stronghold for the Shiite Mahdi Army militia has been the focal point of battles between militia members and U.S. and Iraqi forces for weeks now. Officials say the most recent deaths include two children.

Yesterday, the U.S. military fired guided missiles into the heart of Sadr City, leveling a building just 50 yards from a hospital and wounding nearly two dozen people.

AP Television News footage shows several ambulances destroyed and burning.



Read more: http://www.kswo.com/global/story.asp?s=8268026

[maddezmom]

1. U.S. forces say kill 9 militants in Baghdad clashes

U.S. forces say kill 9 militants in Baghdad clashes 04 May 2008 12:21:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday it killed nine militants in helicopter strikes overnight in eastern Baghdad, where battles have raged between security forces and militiamen loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Much of the fighting took place in and around the crowded Shi'ite slum of Sadr City, the anti-American cleric's stronghold in the capital.

"We killed nine in total," said Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad.

"In one incident, four criminals were firing on a patrol and an Apache (helicopter) was called in."

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04392313.htm

[maddezmom]

2. Iraq's first lady unharmed after her motorcade is bombed

BAGHDAD - A bomb hit a motorcade carrying Iraq's first lady through Baghdad on Sunday, while the U.S. military said a roadside explosion killed four Marines in the deadliest attack in western Anbar province in months.

The motorcade bombing in Baghdad's Karrada district injured four of Hiro Ibrahim Ahmed's bodyguards but left her unharmed, according to the office of her husband, President Jalal Talabani.

She was headed to the city's central National Theater to attend a cultural festival when the attack occurred just before noon, said the presidential office. It was unclear if she was the target or if the bombing was random.

The four Marines were killed in Anbar province on Friday, but no other details of the incident were released.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Aojrx486TqpN8kRe.ec01DlvaA8F