BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by attack aircraft clashed with Shi’ite militia suspects before dawn yesterday in Baghdad, bombing houses and battling more than a dozen rooftop snipers. Residents and police said at least 14 persons were killed.
The fighting erupted in a Mahdi Army stronghold of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who had ordered his militia not to carry out any more attacks for up to six months. The U.S. military stressed that the raid targeted breakaway factions that remain violent, partly as a way of bullying minority Sunnis out of Baghdad.
U.S. troops also targeted Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda in Iraq yesterday in several raids north of Baghdad, killing six insurgent suspects and detaining 25, the military said.
Also yesterday, al Qaeda media arm Al Sahab announced over the Internet that Osama bin Laden will release a video in the days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It would be the first new images of the terror mastermind in nearly three years.
The Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United States. Still, bin Laden’s appearance would be significant.
The announcement had a still photo from the coming video, showing bin Laden addressing the camera, his beard fully black. In his past videos, bin Laden’s beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks.
Bombings, shootings and mortar attacks in Iraq left at least 28 other Iraqis dead nationwide, including 18 bullet-riddled bodies that turned up in Baghdad and south of the capital — apparent victims of so-called sectarian death squads usually run by militia fighters.
The operation in the western Baghdad area of Washash involved Iraqi and U.S. special forces acting on a tip against a Shi’ite cell accused of attacking local police and engaging in extortion as well as execution-style killings of Sunnis, the U.S. military said.
The troops called for air strikes after coming under fire from more than a dozen snipers on the roofs of surrounding buildings.
The military reported four buildings were damaged, “including two enemy strongholds that sustained major damage and two surrounding buildings that sustained moderate damage.” The military statement mentioned no casualties.
Residents reported hearing explosions at about 3 a.m., which persisted for nearly an hour.
A police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity for his own safety, said U.S. helicopters had attacked the area, killing 14 civilians and wounding 10.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, called a critical independent U.S. assessment of its security posture unacceptable interference in its affairs.
The study, released Wednesday and led by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, found that Iraq’s security forces will be unable to take control of the country in the next 18 months. It said the Iraqi National Police is so rife with corruption that it should be scrapped entirely.
The assessment was expected to factor heavily into Congress’ debate on the war, with U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and top commander Gen. David H. Petraeus due to begin hearings Monday.
Yassin Majid, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said, “It is not the duty of the independent committee to ask for changes at the Interior Ministry, especially when it comes to security apparatus.
“This is an Iraqi affair, and we will not accept interference by anyone in such work, whether the Congress or others.”
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