Sandstorm Blankets Baghdad As Missiles Rock U.S. Green Zone

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shelling rocked the Green Zone as a sandstorm blanketed Baghdad yesterday, days after American commanders said they had nearly eliminated deadly rocket and mortar attacks on the heavily fortified government zone through a security crackdown in the eastern slum of Sadr City.

Clashes continued over the weekend in Sadr City, where American and Iraqi forces have confronted fighters tied to the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to the anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The U.S. military said drones fired Hellfire missiles, killing at least three men believed to be engaging in bomb attacks.

Abu Ammar al-Mayahi, a Mahdi Army fighter, said that American and Iraqi forces continued to press into Sadr City yesterday but that the dust storm curtailed Amerian use of air power.

Ground forces had been limited to city blocks at the edge of the district where authorities are building a security wall, he said. "The situation is intense," he added. "The weather is dusty. They are trying to get further inside."

Civilians living in the Green Zone said the rocket and mortar attacks yesterday were in double digits. An American Embassy spokesman said there were no reports of casualties in the zone. A military spokesman said he knew of at least two Iraqi civilians killed and one wounded in the shelling, which often falls short of the compound.

The continuing violence has dimmed hopes that a cease-fire order issued by Mr. Sadr in August and reaffirmed Friday would ease tensions in the city. Mr. Sadr said Friday that his call this month for an "open war until liberation" did not mean a fight against Iraq's government, but rather "the occupier," meaning American and allied foreign troops.