US tanks and AC-130 gunships pounded resistance positions near two shrines in the center of the holy city of Karbala early Friday, and the U.S. military said it killed 18 fighters loyal to Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr.
The fighting started after resistance fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. tanks patrolling Karbala's so-called "Old City," said U.S. Army Col. Pete Mansoor of the 1st Armored Division.
The tanks returned fire, and more than two hours of heavy fighting followed, the military said, according to The AP.
Much of the fighting was near the city's Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines, which U.S. forces allege are being used by resistance fughters as firing positions.
According to Mansoor, 18 Iraqi fighters died.
Dr. Abbas Falih al-Hassani of Karbala's al-Hussein hospital said 12 people died, including two Iranian pilgrims. Thirteen were injured.
There was also overnight fighting between occupation forces and al-Sadr fighters in another holy city, Najaf. One civilian died and another was wounded when their vehicle was caught in the crossfire, hospital officials said.
Near Baqouba, north of Baghdad, gunmen in pickup trucks opened fire Friday on a base of the Iraqi security forces, killing four, Iraqi authorities said. The slain men were members of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. (Albawaba.com)
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