Fresh fighting hits Shi'ite shrine city in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Polish and Bulgarian troops battled Shi'ite militiamen in the Iraqi shrine city of Kerbala on Thursday as US-led forces struggled to quell the worst violence since Saddam Hussein's fall a year ago.

The United States said it might keep combat-hardened troops in Iraq longer than planned to help tackle Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim insurgents trying to expel American-led occupiers.

This week's intense two-front fighting has killed 35 American and allied soldiers and several hundred Iraqis. It has elicited US assertions of resolve, but prompted signs of nervousness among some other countries with troops in Iraq.

A gun battle pitting Polish and Bulgarian soldiers against Shi'ite Mehdi Army fighters erupted around 11 p.m. on Wednesday in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala and lasted through the night, a Polish military spokesman said.

"There was shooting all night," said Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Strzelecki. He had no immediate word on casualties.

A health official, Mehdi al-Hasnawi, said four Iraqis had been killed and 16 wounded in the fighting. Witnesses said the Mehdi Army was in control of the city and its shrines.

Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims, including many from Iran, have converged on Kerbala for Arbain, a major religious occasion that reaches its climax next weekend.

The Mehdi Army militia led by firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr swept onto the streets of Shi'ite cities across Iraq this week, clashing frequently with US-led troops.

ALLIES UNDER PRESSURE

Japan vowed on Thursday to make no hasty decisions about its troop deployment after a suspected mortar attack near the camp where its troops are based in the southern city of Samawa.

Three blasts were heard near the camp on Wednesday night. Nothing hit the camp and no one inside was hurt.

Ukrainian troops withdrew from the eastern city of Kut to a base camp after clashes on Wednesday. Kazakhstan said it would not replace its small contingent due to leave in May. Bulgaria has asked US forces to reinforce its battalion in Kerbala.

Sadr launched his revolt on Sunday after US authorities closed his newspaper and arrested a top aide charged with the murder of a moderate cleric a year ago. US officials then said Sadr was also wanted for the murder. He denies involvement.

Fighting raged on between Sunni rebels and US Marines in the streets of Falluja, an anti-US stronghold west of Baghdad. Residents said clashes were fiercest in the Hay al-Dubat area.

The Marines launched a big crackdown in Falluja after last week's killing and mutilation of four US private security guards there. Twelve Marines were killed in a guerrilla attack on Tuesday in the town of Ramadi, also engulfed in fighting.

In Falluja, a missile hit an eastern residential district at dawn on Thursday. Hospital director Rafi Hayad said three dead civilians and 15 wounded had been brought in after the incident.

Residents said two civilians had been killed in a separate rocket strike on Wednesday evening.

Rafi al-Qaysawi, the director of a clinic converted into a makeshift hospital, said 60 bodies and 162 wounded had been brought to the emergency facility during this week's fighting.

The US military said there were five Marine casualties in Falluja on Wednesday. It was not clear if any were killed.

Denying that Iraq was spinning out of control, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said forces could be strengthened by extending the one-year tour of duty of soldiers due to leave.

"Because we're in the midst of a major troops rotation, we have a planned increase in the number of US troops," he said. "We will likely be managing the pace of the redeployments to allow those seasoned troops with experience...to see the current situation through." Some 135,000 US troops are now in Iraq.

HANDOVER QUESTIONED

The spiralling violence has prompted some US lawmakers to question plans to return sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30, and prompted critics of President Bush to suggest US forces face a Vietnam-style quagmire.

Bush, seeking re-election in November, insists that the violence will not derail Washington's handover plans.

Russian Deputy Foreign Ministery Yuri Fedotov said Iraq had become a "hotbed of terrorism" that posed a serious threat to his country, which opposed the US-led war.

The US military said its forces would destroy Sadr's Mehdi Army militia and that the cleric would be arrested.

Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has condemned the way US-led forces were tackling the uprising but also called for calm on all sides and an end to violence -- a sign he disapproves of the youthful Sadr's tactics.

Since Sunday, 33 US troops, a Ukrainian soldier and a Salvadoran soldier have been killed in clashes. The entire Iraq war has cost the US military 443 dead in combat.


- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq