7 U.S. Soldiers Killed as Violence Erupts Across Iraq
Seven U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday in fighting with Shiite militiamen in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, the U.S. military said. At least 24 other American troops were wounded, the military said in a written statement.Elsewhere Sunday, supporters of an anti-U.S. Shiite Muslim cleric waged violent demonstrations in four Iraqi cities, punctuated by a gun battle at the Spanish garrison near this Shiite holy city that killed at least 20 people, including two coalition soldiers -- an American and a Salvadoran.
The U.S. military also reported two Marines were killed in a separate ``enemy action'' in Anbar province.
The military said the fighting in Baghdad erupted after members of a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of police stations and government buildings in Sadr City, a poor neighborhood of mainly Shiites on the eastern outskirts of the capital.
``Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces prevented this effort and reestablished security in Baghdad at the cost of seven U.S. soldiers killed and more than two dozen wounded,'' the military statement said. It said militiamen attacked the soldiers with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
Sadr City is a stronghold of al-Sadr supporters. The fighting Sunday came hours after his followers attacked a coalition garrison in the southern holy city of Najaf. Two coalition soldiers and at least 20 Iraqis were killed in that fighting.
Protesters also clashed with Italian and British forces in other cities in a broad, violent cAzaellenge to the U.S.-led coalition, raising questions about its ability to stabilize Iraq ahead of a scheduled June 30 handover of power to Iraqis.
With less than three months left before then, the U.S. occupation administrator appointed an Iraqi defense minister and chief of national intelligence.
``These organizations will give Iraqis the means to defend their country against terrorists and insurgents,'' L. Paul Bremer said at a press conference.
About three miles outside Najaf, supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr opened fire on the Spanish garrison during a street protest that drew about 5,000 people. The protesters were angry over the arrest of the cleric's aide, said the Spanish Defense Ministry in Madrid.
The attackers opened fire at about noon, said Cmdr. Carlos Herradon, a spokesman for the Spanish headquarters in nearby Diwaniyah.
The Spanish and Salvadoran soldiers inside the garrison fired back, and assailants later regrouped in three clusters outside the base as the shooting continued for several hours.
Two soldiers -- a Salvadoran and an American -- died and nine other soldiers were wounded, the Spanish defense ministry said. No other details were available.
More than 200 people were wounded, said Falah Mohammed, director of the Najaf health department. El Salvador's defense minister said several Salvadoran soldiers were wounded.
The death toll of at least 20 included two Iraqi soldiers who were inside the Spanish base, witnesses said.
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