The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Friday, July 27, 2007
US Special Forces take on Shiite Militia
At least three of the dead were Mahdi Army fighters, according to Razak al-Musawi, a local spokesman for the political movement of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which commands the militia.It is a well known fact that the Shiite militias are funded, trained, and armed by Iran--who has a vested interest in keeping the region destabilized so as to force the weak-kneed Surrendercrats at home to abandon our interests there.
US special forces called in an air strike on Friday when Shiite militants unleashed a barrage of rocket and machine gun fire during clashes that erupted in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala.The US military said it killed around 12 militants in the strike, ordered after fighters from the Mahdi Army opened fire on a helicopter taking part in the operation which netted a senior militia leader and two aides.
[...] "The Americans were looking for a well-known member of the Mahdi Army named Hamza Matrud. There were three people killed and seven wounded from the Mahdi Army," he said.
The US military did not give any names, but said its target commanded a 100-member rogue Mahdi Army cell responsible for bomb and mortar attacks on US-led troops, civilians, and the assassination of two government officials.
Cities in south-central Iraq have seen several running battles in recent months between rival Shiite militias and US and Iraqi forces.
