US troops injured in Baghdad attacks
Assailants and militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wounded 15 US troops in four separate attacks in Baghdad, the US command said today.
The attacks took place over a six-hour period late yesterday, the military said, as separate fighting with al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia raged in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, south of the capital.
The military had earlier reported seven US soldiers wounded in violence in Baghdad yesterday.
In one attack in eastern Baghdad, assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at American soldiers “while they were inspecting a civil military project aimed at improving the living conditions in Sadr City”, the statement said. Five soldiers were wounded.
Half an hour later, assailants launched “a co-ordinated attack” with grenades and small arms in central Baghdad, injuring seven troops.
In the north-east of the city, insurgents attacked a US patrol, wounding two soldiers. In eastern Baghdad, another soldier was wounded by small arms fire.
Fighting between US troops and al-Sadr’s militia across Iraq yesterday killed at least 20 Iraqis and one US soldier.
The clashes marked the worst flare-up in fighting between the two sides in months.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Mahdi militia has brought fighting back to the good people of Sadr City,” said the US commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.
“We have worked tirelessly to restore essential services to the city, and these attacks hamper our efforts.”
