Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Anti-U.S. protests follow raid on al-Sadr followers
Security
Angry protestors chanted anti-US slogans and carried coffins through a Baghdad district where Iraqi officials said US forces killed six people in an overnight raid on the homes of followers of radical anti-American Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday. The US military did not confirm any operations in Shula, a Shiite enclave west of Baghdad. Interior Ministry sources said 13 people were also wounded after US troops called in an air strike when they came under fire from Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to the cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. Recent US raids in Shiite areas that targeted suspected sectarian death squad leaders have prompted angry protests from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s Shiite constituency. Maliki has previously distanced himself from past operations in Shiite areas. But last month he criticised a US raid on Sadr City in east Baghdad where US troops were seeking a renowned warlord known as Abu Deraa.
