Failed Mahdi Army Counter-Attack Today In Sadr City Leads To Most Savage Battle Yet - Hard Crackdown In Basra As Well
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops clashed with Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia on Friday in what was described as some of the heaviest and most savage fighting in Baghdad for weeks.
Amid blinding dust storms, Sadr’s Mehdi Army fighters attacked Iraqi army positions in east Baghdad’s Sadr City slum, but U.S. forces said Iraqi troops stood their ground.
An Iraqi security source described the fighting as among the heaviest since confrontation erupted there in late March. The source said scores of people had died in combat lasting four to five hours. A nearby market was in flames.
Ali Bustan, head of the health directorate for east Baghdad, said 132 wounded militia members were brought to Sadr City’s two hospitals by nightfall.
“The Iraqi Army still hold their positions in Sadr City,” U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said, quoting a dispatch from U.S. troops at the front. “They are currently under attack … but are organizing a counter-attack.”
Sadr City, home to 2 million people, has seen fighting for three weeks.
In the southern city of Basra, where the government launched a crackdown on Sadr’s militia in March, government troops surrounded the office of the cleric’s followers and prevented them from attending weekly prayers.
The battle in Sadr City is being seen as a key test for Iraq’s army after the Basra crackdown sparked violent clashes across southern Iraq and in Baghdad. After that crackdown, 1,300 soldiers and police were sacked for refusing to fight.
U.S. military spokesman Stover said an Iraqi army unit in Sadr City had abandoned their post on Tuesday despite an American officer’s pleas that they stay and fight.
“There was a company that took themselves out of the line,” he said of Tuesday’s incident. “They were holding an area that they were responsible for and they left.”
Baghdad security spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said only three soldiers had refused to fight.
OFFICE SEALED OFF
Friday saw government troops seal off the Sadr office in Basra, located in an old Olympic committee building from the Saddam Hussein-era.
Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had ordered troops to take possession of government buildings in Basra within 48 hours.
“Troops from the Iraqi Army prevented us from holding Friday prayers and now they are cordoning off the office. They want to evacuate and storm the office,” Harith al-Idhari, the head of Sadr’s Basra office, told Reuters.
Sheikh Asad al-Nasiri, an Sadr aide in the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf, called the actions “inhumane”.
Although there have been sporadic clashes in Basra since Sadr called his militia there off the streets late last month, the focus of fighting has moved to Sadr City, the tightly-packed east Baghdad slum of two million people.
The Mehdi Army has encouraged desertions by telling Iraqi soldiers they will be forgiven and their safety will be assured if they drop their weapons — a message it repeated on Friday.
“To all our brothers in the government’s army and police forces, we invite you to repent, return to the national line and to the arms of your people,” the statement read.
Well, if Reuters is reporting “some” good news, I can only imagine how good the news really is in fact.
Pat, I see not all M-14’s have been taken out of service, with
April 18th, 2008 at 6:53 pmwhat looks like a silencer to boot. Nice pic.
M-14. now thats one hell of a rifle!
any idea on IA casualties during this fight?
said 132 wounded “militia” members were brought to 2 hospitals in sadr city.
the reason i put ‘militia’ in quotations is that i dont like that word for this group. they are more of a proxy of Iran than they are any type of Iraqi militia.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pmBelieve it or not NBC had this positive AP story on Basra which confirms everything Petraeus and Crocker told congress:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24204643/
check it out guys
April 18th, 2008 at 7:22 pmCorey
great find! i wouldnt have believed it if i hadnt seen it for myself. very odd for MSNBC
April 18th, 2008 at 7:28 pmWell now. The IA is still holding onto their positions and waging a counter-attack on Mookie’s Apostate Militia?
And some of the LLMSM is picking up on it? Has hell frozen over?
Never doubt people like Gen Petraeous and Amb Crocker. Both of those men rock the house.
Beware Dhimis? You were wrong on Iraq. Yeah I’m talking to you Murtha, Kennedy, Peluski, and Hairy Weed.
I raise my middle finger in salute to you failed Dhimoid leftist nutcases.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pmCorey, yeah but even if they HAVE TO tell the news, they still can’t quite help themselves:
“The changes in recent weeks mark a surprising show of government sway — at least for now — after an Iraqi-led military crackdown…”
Translation: “It’s still not too late! The whole thing could still descend into chaos and force these silly, inferior brown people into a short, violent life of oppression! Then we’d be superior, because then we could cling to our biased, deeply predjudicial political view in the face of reality! Come on, death and chaos! Woot woot!”
How I wish I were overstating things.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:57 pmI’ve got to chime in again about that article, specifically this line:
“The military was plagued by desertions and poor organization — and, in the end, the offensive was inconclusive…”
Inconclusive?! Isn’t the entire goddamned article about how different life is now for the people who live there?! How much more “conclusive” can you get?
Goddamnit, these media assholes really are incredible. I went to college originally to get a journalism degree and had to change majors because I was so deeply disgusted with the “peek behind the curtain” I was treated to. It seems that every time I look at the dreck the goddamned media churns out, that particular decision is reaffirmed as the correct one. Thank God for Yon and his ilk; I freely admit that they are better men than I.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:02 pmQ_Mech , Brilliant!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:09 pmSo beautiful, they are mutually exclusive realities!
**“The military was plagued by desertions and poor organization — and, in the end, the offensive was inconclusive…”
Inconclusive?! Isn’t the entire goddamned article about how different life is now for the people who live there?! How much more “conclusive” can you get?**
April 19th, 2008 at 7:35 ammike -
Just about every M-14 the gov’t can get their hands back on has been pressed back into service as Designated Marksman rifles. They recalled all the rifles that had been loaned out to law enforcement agencies and (rumor has it) have even been repurchasing them from foreign countries we sent them to. In fact the Army recently tested two M-14 based rifle systems at Fort Benning.
The M-14 is really getting its chance to shine over in the Sandbox. You just can’t beat touching someone with 175gr of M118LR love at say 600M.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:41 amBlueOval8950 , from what I’ve read, one of the things the DOD does well in a time of war is cut through all the bureaucratic B.S.. The rumor you reported may well be true :beer:, I hope so
For what it’s worth, Wikipedia has more cool pics of this bitchen .30 cal,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M14_rifle
April 19th, 2008 at 9:39 pmThe SDM (squad designated marksman) is using a surpressed M14. It is probably topped with a fix 10×42 scope. It is going to again be taken out of service and replaced with a Stoner designed AR10 .308 within two years. The article I read indicated that it was also going to replace the sniper bolt guns too, since a tuned AR10 accuracy is comparable and the need for a faster follow up shot is sometimes needed.
Special ops are getting supplied with Accuracy International bolt guns in .338 Lapua which can outreach the .308
Here is an article on SDM training.
http://www.snipersparadise.com/tsmag/july2005.htm
Link to AR-10
April 20th, 2008 at 4:52 amhttp://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/20075912343.asp
This one is for Pelosi, Reid, Murtha, Kerry, Kennedy, Dean, Obama, Clinton et al. A middle-finger salute to you. l
April 20th, 2008 at 3:34 pmIf 132 went to hospital, then scores of them are dead. Good job IA. You’ll free your nation soon.
Hoorah!