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Dozens killed in Baghdad clashes | Dozens killed in Baghdad clashes |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Thirty-eight Shia militia fighters have been killed in two days of fierce clashes in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the US military has said. | |
Twenty-two militants died in a single incident, when US tanks opened fire to repel an attack on a checkpoint. | Twenty-two militants died in a single incident, when US tanks opened fire to repel an attack on a checkpoint. |
A US military spokesman told the BBC that an operation was going on in Sadr City to "clear the area of criminals" and militants firing rockets. | |
Sadr City is a Baghdad stronghold of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. | |
Militants had taken advantage of a sandstorm on Sunday to shell the heavily protected Green Zone, officials said. | |
Local residents stayed indoors and aerial military operations by US forces were initially made difficult by the sandstorm, the BBC's Clive Myrie reports from Baghdad. | |
Sadr rejection | |
The Green Zone, the vast complex housing government offices and foreign embassies, was still being hit by rocket or mortar attacks early on Monday. | The Green Zone, the vast complex housing government offices and foreign embassies, was still being hit by rocket or mortar attacks early on Monday. |
US and Iraqi officials have blamed such attacks on rogue elements from the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to Moqtada Sadr. | US and Iraqi officials have blamed such attacks on rogue elements from the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to Moqtada Sadr. |
The cleric called for a ceasefire on Friday, but on Sunday he rejected the government's conditions for ending a major military campaign against Shia militias. | The cleric called for a ceasefire on Friday, but on Sunday he rejected the government's conditions for ending a major military campaign against Shia militias. |
A US military spokesman in Baghdad, Major Mark Cheadle, told the BBC the upsurge in violence followed an operation to end rocket attacks on the capital's International Zone. | |
"We've established a combined civil-military operations centre with representatives from the government of Iraq," he said. | |
"We've been there since actually about October but we just started to clear the areas of criminals and those who are attacking with rockets inside the IZ [International Zone - the military's term for the Green Zone] and hurting innocent civilians in and around the IZ." | |
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said he wants to disarm all militants operating outside the control of the central government. | Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said he wants to disarm all militants operating outside the control of the central government. |
More than 400 people have been killed in Sadr City in recent weeks. | More than 400 people have been killed in Sadr City in recent weeks. |