Polish troops clash with Shiite militia in holy city

Polish troops clash with Shiite militia in holy city
By Associated Press, 4/23/2004 06:09



KARBALA, Iraq (AP) Shiite Muslim militiamen clashed with Polish troops in the holy city of Karbala on Friday, the latest skirmish between followers of a radical cleric and coalition forces in the south.

A Polish convoy was attacked near city hall in the center of Karbala around the time of weekly Muslim prayers, said Lt. Col. Robert Strzelecki, spokesman for Camp Babylon, the main Polish base. Gunmen and Polish soldiers exchanged fire. There was no word on casualties.

The multinational division, headed by Polish forces, sent its 1st Battalion Combat Team to secure the city center and reinforce city hall, the division reported.

The militia of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rose up across the south at the beginning of April, taking control of several cities and engaging in bloody battles with coalition forces in the region.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/114/world/Polish_troops_clash_with_Shiit:.shtml

God help our soldiers. A bloodbath is coming......... Military strength and might be damned. Oh, my god.

The box these people have opened, in their ignorance, will not be closed until a painful lesson is learned.

it's insane limited sovereignity plan. Not one foreigner, not one, will be exempt from the confiscation of their country by a bunch of theives who won't even allow them the right to their own government. The will all be seen as being a party to this theft.

Ya reckon they've got a TOWER there as well? This is getting beyond strange.

:evilgrin:
dbt

Babylon was famous for the hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and located about 50 km south of Baghdad...
there's nothing strange or nefarious about naming an outpost in central Iraq "Camp Babylon".

The clash involved Polish-led troops, including Latvians, Lithuanians, Bulgarians and Latvians.

One soldier was injured.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/114/world/Polish_led_troops_clash_with_S:.shtml


It may have been a Bulgarian Soldier, who was seriously injured in a shoot out.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=33768


An AFP report:

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=9764

are fighting in Najaf. Shouldn't they be on their way home?

the pull out talk?

Shi'ite Rebels Fight Foreign Troops in South Iraq
Fri Apr 23, 2004 07:00 AM ET

By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces clashed with Shi'ite militiamen in the shrine city of Kerbala on Friday and U.S. Marines said they were poised for a fresh offensive against guerrillas in the Sunni flashpoint town of Falluja.

Witnesses said two military vehicles were set ablaze in Kerbala, south of Baghdad, as fighters loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr traded fire with Polish or Bulgarian troops.

A Polish military spokesman confirmed there had been an exchange of fire near Kerbala city hall, but gave no details.

The Bulgarian Defense Ministry said Bulgarian troops guarding the city hall and central police station came under mortar fire overnight. The Bulgarian base in Kerbala also came under attack. There were no casualties, the ministry said.
(snip/...)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4921389

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=1591

One soldier in the 9000-strong force under Polish command in central Iraq was killed in the fighting, according to Aljazeera's correspondent in the city. Explosions were heard over different parts of the city as the rival forces traded fire for half an hour. Witnesses and hospital staff said five civilians - four Iraqis and one Iranian - and five members of al-Sadr's Mahdi army were wounded in the clashes.

After the firing which erupted before Friday's prayers, the Mahdi army fighters said they had beaten back an assault by occupation forces. The occupation in a statement said at about 12:10 (0810 GMT), a convoy was attacked near the city hall. "The patrol returned fire," it said.

City hall is located near the office of an al-Sadr religious foundation and the al-Mukhayyam mosque controlled by his loyalists.
US-led occupation forces have threatened to retake Karbala, located 110 km south of Baghdad, from al-Sadr loyalists who seized the city early this month. An uneasy standoff had been in effect over the past few days, with Iraqi police hunkered down around official buildings and patrolling only near holy sites while al-Sadr's Mahdi militia was deployed near the cleric's local headquarters.

Al-Sadr also urged Najaf residents to create committees to run their city. "It is up to you to build your Islamic capital," he said. "We should be united for one ultimate goal, to liberate our country and remove the filth from Iraq." The congregation chanted "Long live Sadr" and denounced not only the occupation forces but the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, saying "America and the Council are infidels".