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www.abc.net.au/news
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Explosions rock Najaf as US battles militia
A series of loud explosions has rocked the southern edge of the Iraqi
Shiite holy city of Najaf, hours after fighting broke out between US
troops and militiamen in the city's vast cemetery.
The explosions came from an area where US forces and radical Shiite
cleric Moqtada al Sadr's Mehdi army militia are facing off, south of
the sacred Imam Ali mausoleum.
The explosions were heard shortly before Friday prayers at Najaf, one
of Shiite Islam's holiest cities.
Shooting was also heard from the southern and western entrances to the
city and hospital sources said seven people, including an Afghan
pilgrim, had been wounded.
Earlier, at least three US tanks were seen in a cemetery about one
kilometre from the shrine, north-west of the city centre, and US
helicopters hovered over the area.
Armed black-clad men veiled with scarves were seen running inside the
sprawling cemetery and fanning out across the area.
Heavy black smoke was seen rising from the cemetery and the sound of
heavy guns was heard.
In the area to the south, known as Bahr al-Najaf, about 2,500 US
soldiers are camped in the desert.
Sadr's fighters have dug in with heavy weapons on a hill overlooking
Bahr, about 100 metres south of the shrine.
Their military command post is also in this area right behind the
shrine.
The fighting comes one day after Najaf's new police chief Ghaleb
al-Jazairi accused militiamen of "terrorising" residents and asked
them to leave.
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