US troops have asked civilians to evacuate a number of areas of Najaf, raising fears of a renewed military assault on the holy Iraqi city.
A follower of Rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr holds the helmet of an US soldier during clashes between al-Mahdi army with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Najaf today
US warplanes and helicopters have been bombarding the city today. artillery. Tank fire was also reported around the city's cemetery and close to the Imam Ali shrine.
The city has seen fierce fighting between US forces and radical Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army since last Thursday, when a ceasefire collapsed after six weeks.
US forces have been using loudspeakers to make announcements in Arabic warning residents near the front lines that there is no truce and asking them to evacuate.
The radical Shia uprising has nearly shut down several cities in Iraq and given Prime Minister Iyad Allawi his sternest test since taking over from US-led occupiers on June 28th.
Sadr yesterday defied demands from Iraq's interim government that his militia pull out of Najaf.
US marines say they have killed 360 of Sadr's loyalists in the city since last Thursday. Sadr's spokesmen say many fewer of their men have died.
Citing the deterioration of security, the Polish-led multinational division that had been responsible for Najaf has handed command of the area to US forces.
The fighting is part of a radical Shia uprising that has hit several other Iraqi cities, including a predominantly Shia district of Baghdad.
Clashes also broke out in an impoverished Shi'ite Baghdad suburb as militiamen ignored a curfew order from Iraq's interim government, witnesses said.
They said gunfire was heard not long after dawn in the suburb of Sadr City, scene of fierce fighting since Thursday. US tanks and Iraqi national guards were advancing near the area. The Health Ministry said ten people were killed and 104 wounded in fighting over a period of 24 hours in the Baghdad area, including Sadr City.
A sabotage attack against one of two southern export piplines has reduced Iraqi oil output but not halted it, a senior oil offical said today. The attack on the pipeline cut export flows to 1.1 million barrels per day from 1.9 million, the official said.
Other oil officials had said output was halted in response to threats from militiamen loyal to radical Sadr, although an aide to Sadr has denied such threats were made.
A loud blast echoed from near hotels used by foreigners in central Baghdad early today, and a plume of smoke could by seen rising from the area. The blast occurred near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels, a common target for insurgents in the Iraqi capital. Two US soldiers were injured.
During the night, insurgents fired a dozen mortars or rockets in central Baghdad, most of them apparently aimed at the Green Zone compound housing the interim Iraqi government and the US embassy.