Missiles hit Baghdad's Green Zone

27/04/2008| IslamWeb

At least 10 missiles have hit Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, hours after sporadic clashes in the Iraqi capital left at least 10 people dead.

 

"At least 10 rockets or mortars hit the Green Zone," an interior ministry official said on Sunday, adding that it was not clear if the attacks had caused any casualties.

 

US and Iraqi military leaders say that about 700 rockets or mortars have been fired at the Green Zone, which is the seat of Iraq's government, in the past month.

 

They say that a large number of missiles have been fired from Sadr City, an area controlled by the al-Mahdi Army.

 

The al-Mahdi Army is led by Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shia religious leader opposed to the US military presence in Iraq.

 

Fresh clashes

 

The attacks on the Green Zone came after at least 10 people were killed in clashes between Shia fighters and US and Iraqi forces in Sadr City.

 

At least 44 people were hurt in the violence, which broke out at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Saturday and continued past dawn on Sunday, officials from the defense and interior ministries said.

 

A medical official said that eight people, including a woman, died in night-time clashes.

 

The US military said that two fighters were killed between 8.30 am and 10.50 am on Sunday in separate attacks on US forces in Sadr City.

 

'Stop bloodshed'

 

The fighting in Sadr City came after al-Sadr said that fighting between his al-Mahdi Army militia and Iraqi security forces should end.

He called on Friday for "my brothers in the army, police and Jaish al-Mahdi [al-Mahdi Army] to stop the bloodshed".

 

Al-Sadr had warned on April 19 that an all-out war between government forces and the al-Mahdi Army could break out unless attacks on his fighters were stopped.

 

The violence in Sadr City is the latest in a crackdown against Shia fighters by forces from the Shia-led Iraqi government.

 

Hundreds of people are thought to have died in the operation by government forces since it was launched in the southern city of Basra and Sadr City in late March.

 

Sunni call

 

Also on Saturday, Iraq's Sunni vice-president said that the return of his political bloc to the Shia-led cabinet was a priority.

 

Tariq al-Hashemi, who is a member of the National Accordance Front, said the government needs to reconcile quickly to "save Iraq".

 

The National Accordance Front has boycotted the Iraqi government for nearly nine months.

 

Al-Hashemi has in the past accused Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shia prime minister, of sectarian favoritism.

 

Al-Maliki has denied the accusation, saying that al-Hashemi has sought to undermine key legislation.

 

PHOTO CAPTION

 

Picture released by the US military shows a US Army captain providing security from a building rooftop during a sandstrom in Baghdad's Sadr City on April 17.

 

Al-Jazeera