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Article: U.S. Fights Iraqi Militia in South; Clashes Aimed at Wresting Control of City From Mahdi Army
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 8, 2007
- Author:
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American and Iraqi troops engaged in fierce fighting with Shiite
militiamen in southern Iraq on Saturday, the second day of clashes
that have raised the specter of a resurgence by the Mahdi Army after
weeks of lying low.
As combat aircraft zoomed overhead, U.S. and Iraqi troops fought
the militia in street shootouts and hunted down fighters in house-
to-house raids in what the U.S. military said was an attempt to
wrest control of the city of Diwaniyah from loyalists of firebrand
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. It was the third major clash between
U.S.-allied forces and the Shiite militia in Diwaniyah in the past
eight months.
Sadr has appeared to cooperate with U.S. and Iraqi troops as they ...