American forces, under attack, carried out airstrikes on Monday against armed supporters of the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr near the Shrine of Abbas in the holy city of Karbala, Iraq.
May 18, 2004
HOLY CITY
U.S. Forces, Under Attack, Strike Rebel Cleric`s Fighters Near Shrine
By EDWARD WONG
ARBALA, Iraq, May 17 — In its riskiest attack yet against the forces of a rebel Shiite cleric, the American military called in an airstrike early Monday morning to kill fighters standing about 160 feet away from one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam, military officials said.
The strike came after nearly a week in which tenacious insurgents supporting the cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, fought daily battles in downtown Karbala against soldiers of the First Armored Division. The insurgents have killed 3 American soldiers and wounded at least 55, frustrating American commanders who had hoped to break the insurgency by raiding a mosque used as a rebel stronghold last Tuesday.
After hours of debate on Sunday, commanders called in an AC-130 gunship, which began pounding at insurgent positions with 40-millimeter cannon fire around 12:30 a.m. Monday. An American officer at the scene said the insurgents had clustered on a street corner about 160 feet from the golden-domed Shrine of Hussein, dedicated to the martyred grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
As many as 16 insurgents were killed in the airstrike and at least five were wounded, said Maj. Mark Grabski, executive officer of the First Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment of the First Armored Division. Thirteen other insurgents were killed in battles in the area, said Dan Senor, an occupation spokesman, citing a count by Polish forces here.
The intense, rhythmic pounding from the cannon fire could be heard as far away as Camp Lima, the military base five miles to the east.
Across the south, Mr. Sadr`s followers have launched fierce counterattacks against occupation forces. An Italian soldier died on Monday from injuries suffered the previous day in battle in the city of Nasiriya, The Associated Press reported. Militiamen chased Italian soldiers out of a military base and to the outskirts of the city, and civilian workers have abandoned the besieged office of the occupation authority.
Here in Karbala, ever since American soldiers raided and occupied the Mukhaiyam Mosque, the insurgent stronghold, Mr. Sadr`s followers have been regrouping around the Shrine of Abbas and Shrine of Hussein, just 600 feet east of the mosque.
American commanders had held back from attacking the insurgents there for fear of damaging the shrines and inflaming Shiite Muslims around the world. But insurgents continued firing mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades at the occupied mosque from the shrine area, including from a second-floor window in the Shrine of Hussein. Lt. Col. Garry P. Bishop, the commanding officer of American forces here, decided the fighters had to be killed.
Major Grabski and Capt. William Thomas Byrns, the commander of a tank company in the area at the time of the airstrike, said there had been no damage to the Shrine of Hussein. An Iraqi reporter working for The New York Times in Karbala said it appeared some tiles might have sustained minor damage.
"Things blow up when they engage targets, and they blow up pretty big," Captain Byrns said of the AC-130. But, he added, "those things are extremely accurate."
In April, after Mr. Sadr`s militia began fighting, Shiite leaders issued dire warnings to American commanders not to enter the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala or mosques. But since then, there have been signs that top Shiites have grown weary of Mr. Sadr. There has been little outrage from residents, even after American troops began using the mosque here as a base.
Mr. Sadr and his armed supporters have used holy sites as shields during a six-week uprising against the occupation forces. Shortly after he ignited the revolt, Mr. Sadr barricaded himself in the nearby city of Najaf and posted members of his militia, the Mahdi Army, around the Shrine of Ali there, dedicated to the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. The American military has occupied a former Spanish base on the outskirts of Najaf but has held back from entering the downtown area, despite statements by commanders that they intended to kill or capture Mr. Sadr.
Last Friday, American tanks and insurgents engaged in a battle in a sprawling Shiite cemetery close to the city center. Supporters of Mr. Sadr claimed afterward that American bullets had hit the golden dome of the Shrine of Ali. But a spokesman for the occupation forces denied that American soldiers were responsible.
On Sunday afternoon, insurgents with checkered scarves covering their faces and carrying AK-47 assault rifles, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers wandered around the shrine area. A freelance photographer for The New York Times reported seeing many armed men along a road surrounding the Shrine of Hussein. The men had at least a dozen rocket-propelled grenades, and some wore bulletproof vests.
Near one corner, fighters sat in a circle around a small fire brewing tea. Gunfire could be heard nearby. Several men leaned their AK-47`s against a wall and prayed, kneeling.
At one point, a group of about 10 men reloaded their weapons and peered around the corner to where they had set up a heavy machine gun 50 yards away on a median in the road. Insurgents fired the gun every minute or so in long bursts.
There were about 70 fighters on that corner of the shrine. They looked relaxed, joking and laughing. They seemed confident that the Americans would not attack them if they stayed in the shrine area.
"The situation is under control with the help of Allah and the Imam Mahdi," said a man in a blue ski mask who declined to give his name. "We`re fighting them with rifles and R.P.G.`s while they`re using tanks and helicopters. We want peace. We want the Americans to leave the holy cities."
After the 20-minute airstrike on Monday, an eerie stillness settled over downtown Karbala. "This morning it was very quiet, almost strangely quiet," Major Grabski said.
But by afternoon, insurgents had begun attacking the Americans again. Soldiers killed at least three militiamen. Gunfire and explosions echoed across the death zone of this holy city.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
An Army sniper in Karbala on Monday. At right is the Shrine of Abbas.