“Nobody slept in Diwaniya last night. The fighting was very fierce,”

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=...

US, Iraqi troops kill 30 in Shia city clashes
(Reuters)

8 October 2006

DIWANIYA, Iraq - US and Iraqi troops killed 30 militants early on Sunday in fierce fighting in the flashpoint southern Shia city of Diwaniya, the US military said.

The military said an M1A2 Abrams tank was severely damaged in the battle that erupted after militants opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades on US and Iraqi forces on a mission to detain a “high-value” target.

Diwaniya’s southern districts are a stronghold for the Mehdi Army militia of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose movement is a key player in the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government of national unity.

A Mehdi Army official, who declined to be named, denied any involvement in the fighting and blamed rogue gunmen. He said Sadr had issued orders to the Mehdi Army “not to attack anybody, including the Americans”.

[Nimrod2005]

1. No Shia group will ever give up power to anything or anybody...nt

[sce56]

2. For some photos see

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...