FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008
16:37 MECCA TIME, 13:37 GMT
Clashes erupt in Iraq's south
Shias in their hundreds of thousands crowded the
streets of Karbala to mark Ashura [AFP]
Violent clashes have broken out in Iraq's southern
cities of Basra and Nasiriyah between members of a
Shia sect and Iraq's security forces, police said.
Street fighting erupted at around midday (0900 GMT) on
Friday, when members of the Shia sect launched attacks
on the security forces in the two cities, police and
witnesses said.
At least five people, four policemen and a civilian
woman, were killed in Nasiriyah, according to the
city's director general of health, Hadi al-Ramahi.
In Basra, police chief Major Abdul Jalil Khalaf, said
fighting was taking place in three quarters of the
city between the security forces and members of the
sect.
Witnesses said aircraft belonging to the US-led force
flew over Basra, some 550km south of Baghdad.
The clashes in Nasiriyah, about 350km south of the
capital, were in the east of the city, a police
official said.
Ashura celebrations
The fighting comes as Shias across Iraq have marked
Ashura, one of the holiest days on the Shia calendar,
when they commemorate the killing of Imam Hussein by
armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid in 680.
Basra's police chief said the fighting by the Shia
sect in Basra was being led by Ahmed al-Hassani
Al-Yamani.
Yamani claims to be an ambassador of Imam Mahdi, an
eighth century Imam who vanished as a boy and whom
Shias believe will return to bring justice to the
world.
During Ashura in 2007, a Shia sect dubbing itself the
Jund al-Samaa or "Soldiers of Heaven", clashed with US
and Iraqi forces outside the holy cities of Najaf and
Karbala.
Last year's fighting left 263 members of the sect
dead, including their leader, Dhia Abdul Zahra Kadhim
al-Krimawi, also known as Abu Kamar.
Security measures
Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the streets of
Karbala for the ceremonies on Friday, which reach
their peak on Saturday.
The shrine city, around 110km south of Baghdad, was
under a tight security cordon, with around 20,000
security force members deployed.
Ashura ceremonies have been targeted by Sunni groups
in the past and on Thursday eight people were killed
when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a
procession outside a mosque in Baquba, 60km north of
Baghdad.
British forces handed over control of the oil-rich
province of Basra to Iraqi forces in mid-December,
amid warnings that it could descend into violent turf
wars between Shia groups.
The UK expects to sharply reduce its nearly
5,000-strong troop presence in the province, but has
said that around half that number will stay at their
base at Basra airport to support the Iraqi security
forces and for training purposes.
Source: Agencies
---------------
Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo
Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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