US troops 'poised to storm Najaf'

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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After falujjah, the invaders have now turned their attention towards Najaf. Hope they are humiliated here in the same way as they were at Falujjah.

US troops ‘poised to storm Najaf’](BBC NEWS | Middle East | US threatens big assault on Najaf)

US and Iraqi forces are preparing for a major assault against Shia Muslim fighters in the holy city of Najaf, the US military has said.
US forces have been battling insurgents loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr for the past week.

Hundreds have been reported killed or injured since the fighting began.

One of Iraq’s deputy presidents, Ibrahim Jaafari, has called for the US-led forces to withdraw and allow Iraqi security forces to take over.

“I call for multinational forces to leave Najaf and for only Iraqi forces to remain there,” he said in remarks broadcast by Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera.

Earlier, he also called on Mr Sadr’s Mehdi Army militants to pull back.

But the US military - whose intervention was requested by the Najaf governor last week - has said it plans to press on with its offensive in the city.

“Iraqi and US forces are making final preparations as we get ready to finish this fight that the Moqtada militia started,” said Col Anthony Haslam, commanding officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Najaf.

“The desired end state is one of stability and security, where the citizens of Najaf do not live in fear of violence or kidnappings, and where the city of Najaf can once again return to peace and prosperity.”

The US military said on Monday that Najaf’s Governor, Adnan al-Zorfi, had given its troops permission to raid the Imam Ali mausoleum. The US says the insurgents are using the shrine as a refuge, but an attack could anger Shia Muslims.

It is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, marking the spot where the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, is buried.

Mr Sadr has called on his followers to keep fighting even if he himself is captured or killed.

“I thank the dear fighters all over Iraq for what they have done to set back injustice,” he said as fighting flared up in other cities such as Amara, where at least 10 Iraqis died in clashes with UK forces.

Confirmed casualty figures are unavailable for Najaf but clashes in Baghdad, Amara, Kut and other towns left at least 30 dead and 219 wounded on Tuesday alone, the Iraqi health ministry said.

At least six Iraqis were killed and 10 injured when a bomb exploded at a market near Baquba, north of Baghdad.

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The US Occupiers have been Raiding and bombing Najaf for months

expect nothing but continuation of the killing of civillians and expect the usual lines we get from the US Occupiers about so called accurate weapons and lies such as "we try to minimise civillian deaths" yeah right Deja Vu yet again!

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'Bout thime they finish this off.

Next Fallujah.

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Actually not next Fallujah.

I know its hard to tell, but they are supposedly working on Fallujah right now :hehe:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ohioguy: *
'Bout thime they finish this off.

Next Fallujah.
[/QUOTE]

you been watching too many Rambo movies!

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actually the iraqi government that invited them told them not to leave Iraq. No party manners at all.

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US moves to crush Shia uprising](BBC NEWS | Middle East | US moves to crush Shia uprising)

Shia militiamen are using the Imam Ali shrine as a refuge, US forces say
American-led forces in Najaf have surrounded the centre of the holy Iraqi city of Najaf, in an effort to defeat a week-long uprising by Shia militiamen.
There was heavy fighting early on Thursday as US and Iraqi forces backed by helicopters moved to seal off the city’s Imam Ali Shrine.

Aircraft and artillery pounded a nearby cemetery controlled by the militiamen.

American forces also targeted militias in Kut, east of Najaf, where at least 75 people are reported killed.

US and Iraqi troops have been battling cleric Moqtada Sadr’s Mehdi militia in Najaf - about 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad - for the past seven days.

The latest clashes broke out at around 0700 (0300 GMT) on Thursday near the shrine and the Valley of Peace cemetery - where Mr Sadr is thought to have about 1,000 fighters.

“Major operations to destroy the militia have begun,” a US military spokesman said.

American troops, using loudspeakers, have been warning residents to leave the area.

A correspondent for AFP news agency said all civilians appeared to have left central Najaf, which he described as a “ghost city”.

A senior aide to Mr Sadr, Ahmed al-Shibani, said the Mehdi militia would continue to fight.

“We are prepared to repulse any attacks on our positions,” he told Reuters news agency.

The insurgents have been using Najaf’s Imam Ali mausoleum as a refuge, according to the US military.

However, a American spokesman on Thursday said the shrine was not included in the “current clearing operations”.

The BBC’s Alastair Leithead in Baghdad says sensitive nature of fighting around such a significant place has been a problem for the interim government and the US forces.

The shrine is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, marking the spot where the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, is buried.

Oil threat

The number of casualties in a week of fighting in Najaf is unclear.

Earlier this week the US military said it had killed more than 300 militiamen - but Mr Sadr’s forces say their losses are much lower.

In Kut, another Shia city 160 km (100 miles) east of Najaf, US planes targeted the Mehdi militia overnight.

Officials in Kut said at least 72 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, but there has been no independent confirmation of this.

Most of the victims died during the US air raid, according to the local officials.

The city was the scene of clashes between Iraqi security forces and insurgents on Wednesday.

Mr Sadr’s militia has threatened to retaliate to the Najaf offensive by blowing up oil pipelines in southern Iraq.

Mr Sadr has called on his followers to keep fighting, even if he himself is captured or killed.

Further south, in Basra, thousands of supporters of Mr Sadr held a protest against the Najaf offensive on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Iraq two US marines were reported killed in a helicopter crash in Anbar province west of Baghdad late on Wednesday