Baghdad - Calm was restored to the Sadr City area of east
Baghdad Saturday after Iraqi security authorities lifted the vehicle
curfew imposed on the Shiite city on March 25, witnesses said.
Despite US and Iraqi military clashes with militants in the Shiite
neighbourhood following an attack on a convoy Friday, the Iraqi
forces lifted the vehicle curfew from early Saturday morning in Sadr
City, according to a statement issued by Baghdad's security operation
office.
The statement called upon citizens to abide by all instructions
issued by security forces that stressed the importance of driving in
designated safe routes and streets, warning that other streets could
be planted with remote-controlled roadside explosives.
Witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agnetur dpa that the curfew was
still being imposed in the streets of Jwader, Falah and Dokhl.
Although some stores have re-opened, students were not able to go
back to their schools, due to closed streets in many districts,
witnesses said.
On Friday, heavy fighting was reported between US-Iraqi forces and
militants in Sadr City, while US helicopters hovered over the area
and fired at houses and buildings.
The US military said in a statement Friday that their soldiers
killed two snipers, two people firing rocket-propelled grenades and
several others after coming under attack in Sadr City.
In separate incident in Sadr City, a US convoy was damaged by six
roadside bombs and came under fire from nearby buildings. The
soldiers returned fire and killed at least four of the attackers.
US forces killed two more suspected insurgents with tank rounds,
while an air force drone later killed three people planting a road
side bomb, the US military said.
According to local witnesses, at least 70 people were killed and
another 300 wounded since the government launched an offensive
against militants and criminals in Sadr City and other Shiite
neighbourhoods on March 25.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani condemned the killing
of Riyad al-Nuri, closest aide and brother-in-law of radical Shiite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, describing the incident as 'vicious.'
Sending a message of condolence to al-Sadr on Saturday, Talabani
said the crime was a part of the violence 'creating strife among
brothers of the same state, religion and ethnicity.'
Al-Nuri was killed on Friday by militants in the city of Najaf,
some 180 kilometres south of Baghdad. Many Sadrists hold the
government responsible for his death.
In reaction to al-Nuri's death, Iraqi government forces imposed on
Friday a curfew on Najaf, especially in areas where Sadrists are
concentrated.
However, the curfew in Najaf was lifted on Saturday, after scores
of Shiites had mourned al-Nuri in a massive funeral procession.
Separately, militants shot dead one member of the Awakening
Council and wounded another two in the Had Moksar district of Baquba,
some 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, police sources told dpa.
In another incident, one Awakening Council member and another two,
including an Iraqi soldier, were killed when a bomb went off in the
Abu Khamis area, police said.
The explosive device was detonated as the Iraqi forces along with
members of the Awakening Councils gathered to foil the explosion
attempt.
The Awakening Councils are local police squads located mainly in
Sunni Iraqi provinces and aim at fighting militants of the al-Qaeda
terrorist network.
Also in Baquba, a police officer was killed and another civilian
was wounded when militants shot them in Jlolaa area.
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