Shiite-Sunni Fighting Breaks Out
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BAGHDAD, Iraq – Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr clashed yesterday with Sunni militants in fighting that killed at least 15 people, and three American soldiers died in separate attacks the day before, officials said.
Six Iraqis died and 12 were wounded in other attacks yesterday.
The Shiite-Sunni fighting occurred after Mr. al-Sadr’s Madhi army militia raided a house in Nahrawan, 15 miles southeast of Baghdad, to free a fellow militiaman kidnapped by Sunni militants, said Amer al-Husseini, an aide to Mr. al-Sadr.
The Mahdi army freed the hostage and captured two militants during the raid, but was ambushed on its way out of Nahrawan, Mr. al-Husseini said.
Police Major Falah al-Mohammadawi said the 15 deaths included 14 Madhi army members and a policeman. He said 14 people were wounded; including two policemen; the rest were either militia members or civilians. No insurgent casualties were reported.
The incident underscores tensions among hard-line elements in Iraq’s rival religious and ethnic communities at a time when America is struggling to promote a political process seen as key to calming the insurgency so that American and other foreign troops can go home.
As part of the political process, Iraqi parties are trying to put together coalitions to contest the December 15 parliamentary election following ratification of the constitution in a referendum October 15.
Three Sunni Arab groups – the General Conference for the People of Iraq, the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Iraqi National Dialogue – joined forces to field candidates in the election, which was made possible by the newly ratified constitution.
But an influential group of hard-line Sunni Arab clerics, the Association of Muslim Scholars, denounced the constitution and said they will not join the political process. Those contradictory statements signaled confusion within the minority Sunni Arab community, which forms the core of the insurgency, on how to go forward after it failed to block ratification in the referendum.
Meanhile, two U.S. Army soldiers were killed Wednesday when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad, the military said.
That same day, a roadside bomb and small arms fire struck an Army patrol 37 miles north of Baghdad, killing one American soldier and wounding four, the military said.