Region | Iraq
Anniversary clampdown fails to stop violence
At least a dozen people were killed in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City on Wednesday, despite vehicle ban aimed at preventing unrest from spreading on the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.
- AP
- Published: 15:14 April 9, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- A young Iraqi girl passes a militiaman holding a RPG, rocket propelled grenade, in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Baghdad.
Baghdad: At least a dozen people were killed in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City on Wednesday, despite vehicle ban aimed at preventing unrest from spreading on the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.
Police said six people died in clashes overnight, and an explosion in the morning whose cause was unclear hit a funeral inside the eastern Baghdad district that is home to 2 million, killing six more and wounding 14 people.
Dr Qasim Al Mudalla said four bodies and 23 wounded had been brought to the Imam Ali hospital he manages in Sadr City, where US and Iraqi forces have battled militia loyal to cleric Moqtada Al Sadr since Sunday.
"What are they doing? The floor of the hospital is covered with the blood of children. What is the world doing? They have seen the blood of our children and are doing nothing," he said.
US forces announced two more soldiers' deaths, raising the toll to 13 since an upsurge of fighting began on Sunday.
Sadr City has been the focus this week of clashes between Al Sadr's Mehdi Army and US and Iraqi government troops, after the government launched an inconclusive crackdown on the militia last month in the southern city of Basra.
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The Iraqi parliament's Human Rights Committee warned in a statement of a "tragic situation" in the slum, where food and medicine are running short after a two-week blockade.
Other parts of Baghdad were quiet, with streets clear of traffic because of a one-day vehicle ban in the capital for the anniversary. Shops, government offices, schools and universities closed as a result. Residents were allowed out only on foot.
Al Sadr had called a mass demonstration against the United States for the anniversary, but postponed it saying he feared for his followers' safety.
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