U.S.-led forces battled with Shiite Muslim militiamen in southern Iraq on Monday and killed at least 20 suspected fighters, the military said, while car bombs and other violence left at least 40 people dead in the capital following days of calm brought on by a curfew.
Violence also erupted again in Samarra, north of Baghdad, the site of a bombing Wednesday that targeted a revered Shiite shrine and prompted officials to clamp curfews on Baghdad and Samarra. Police said four people died when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a Samarra school that was being used to house police officers.
A 24-hour curfew in Samarra was relaxed Saturday, and restrictions on movement were in effect from 8 p.m. until 7 a.m. The car bomber struck Monday afternoon.
Four suspects were arrested in connection with the mosque bombing. A military statement said Iraqi forces detained the four Sunday during a raid that also turned up a compact disc showing attacks on U.S.-led troops, blasting caps and detonation wire, identification cards for access to al-Askari mosque and photographs depicting terrorist training exercises.
Baghdad’s curfew, imposed in the wake of last week’s blast at al-Askari, was lifted Sunday. While in place, it appeared to have kept a lid on sectarian bloodshed and other violence, but police said Monday that in the first 24 hours after its lifting, the bodies of 33 men were found strewn across the capital. All were believed to be victims of sectarian death squads.
In Fallujah, in western Anbar province, two car bombs exploded in two markets. Police said at least 13 Iraqis died.
U.S.-led forces launched major attacks in southern Baghdad’s Maysan province in what appeared to be a nationwide move against Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents. The offensive began after the last of 28,500 extra troops brought to Iraq to enforce President Bush’s military surge arrived this month.
Operations were launched over the weekend in areas surrounding Baghdad as the military sought to cut supply routes for Sunni insurgents moving weapons and fighters into the capital. The battles in Maysan were aimed at Shiite militiamen loyal to Moqtada Sadr.
U.S. military officials allege the area is used by Sadr’s militia to import weapons from Iran, where they said the radical cleric has sought refuge in the past to elude U.S. forces. A military statement said helicopter gunships backed up ground troops who came under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades during the dawn raids. It said at least 20 suspected terrorists were killed and six wounded.
Locals, though, said the casualties included civilians. “Many innocents were killed because in the summer, most people sleep on the roofs to avoid the heat,” said Hamid Nouri, a clergyman and Sadr loyalist in Amarah.
Four years after the U.S. invasion, Iraq has become the world’s second-most unstable nation behind Sudan, according to a Washington think tank. The 2007 Failed States Index, which is produced by the research group Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy Magazine, last year put Iraq in fourth place.
