Five Iraqis killed as British troops clash with Mehdi militia

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/June/focusoniraq_June76.xml§ion=focusoniraq&col=

AMARA, Iraq - At least five Iraqis were killed and a British soldier wounded Sunday when a firefight broke out between Mehdi militia gunmen and British troops in the southern town of Amara, police said.

“Five people were killed, including one woman and 15 were wounded,” said Lieutenant Ali Aziz of the Amara police, adding that the gunmen were members of the Mehdi militia of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

British military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Eaton confirmed there was a clash but declined to speculate on the identity of the attackers or the number of casualties.

“There were a series of firefights where multinational troops were engaged from a variety of places,” he said, adding that they began at 3:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday) and lasted over an hour.

[acmavm]

1. Oh good grief. They don't want to go picking a fight with these guys:

<snip...the gunmen were members of the Mehdi militia of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.<snip>

I saw an interview on PBS with an 'expert' on the Middle East. He was being interview by (Help Me With The Name Of This Guy) Fareek Zalid (that is not right, but it's close). Anyway, the 'expert' said that the ONE man in Iraq who has enough power, and he didn't mean the ability to declare a fatwa but he meant real muscle, is 'firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.' He said he's the man to watch. He can put fighters in the streets in a heartbeat.

I'm sure that the puppet government thinks they have to beat down this guy and his militia. But I have a bad feeling about it.