Cleric’s Forces Battle for Section of Baghdad

U.S. soldiers and Shiite militiamen exchanged heavy fire Sunday on the streets of Sadr City, a sprawling neighborhood in eastern Baghdad that is a stronghold of militant cleric Muqtada Sadr.

Sadr’s forces appeared to make a concerted effort to seize control of parts of the district, witnesses and officials said. U.S. authorities said the attempt was repulsed, though continued fighting was reported.

U.S. officials said 19 militiamen, all carrying rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, were killed in the fighting. U.S. officials said the fighters took to the streets one day after the arrest of two men suspected of being a lieutenant in and a financier for Sadr’s militia.

A number of militiamen were arrested, said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. U.S. forces also seized a large number of arms when they evicted militiamen who had attempted to retake Sadr’s former office in the neighborhood, Kimmitt said.

Militiamen attempted to take over at least one police station and a bank, while blocking roads and setting up checkpoints to restrict entry to Sadr City, according to military and civilian reports from the area.

There was no immediate word on any U.S. or civilian casualties.

Sunday’s attacks followed attempts by Sadr’s followers to seize control of the southern cities of Basra and Amarah over the weekend. Whether the strikes hundreds of miles apart were a coordinated effort on Sadr’s part was not immediately clear.

“There are still some inside that district [who] are of the belief that Muqtada’s militia can operate freely, that somehow Muqtada has some kind of legitimate control over that district,” Kimmitt said. “They’ll find out that they’re wrong.”

On Sunday, armed men with their faces covered in head scarves were telling people to stay indoors and keep all shops closed, said Qassim Fartousi, an accountant who lives in the area.

“They said it was an emergency, to stay home,” Fartousi said.

U.S. forces arrived with tanks, helicopters and armored vehicles in an effort to force back the militiamen, Fartousi said.

Sadr City is a largely Shiite Muslim zone that is a stronghold for Sadr and his Al Mahdi militia. The neighborhood is named after Sadr’s late father, an esteemed ayatollah who established community projects through mosques in the area. The younger Sadr has a large following there, despite U.S. efforts to counter his influence.

Sadr City is said to be home to about 2 million people, many of whom trace their roots to southern Iraq. While much of its population is poor, it is also home to many middle-class families.

The geographic reach of the Sadr forces -- combined with continuing attacks by Sadr’s militia on U.S. troops in the south-central holy cities of Najaf, Kufa and Karbala -- underscores Sadr’s ability to call on fighters throughout much of Shiite Iraq.

Meantime, an uneasy standoff has persisted in Najaf, where more than 2,000 U.S. troops are massed outside the city and have frequently clashed with Sadr’s militia.

Sadr himself is thought to be holed up in Najaf, making occasional forays to adjacent Kufa, site of a Shiite shrine.

Associated Press reported that U.S. forces Sunday made their farthest push yet into Kufa, trading fire with gunmen on both sides of the road.

Two civilians were killed and 10 were wounded in the battles before the tanks withdrew, hospital officials told AP. Three houses were destroyed.

U.S. authorities have vowed to capture or kill Sadr, who is wanted in connection with the murder last year of a rival cleric in Najaf. U.S. forces have refrained from storming Najaf, however, since it is the site of one of the holiest shrines of Shiite Islam.

Instead, U.S. forces have been engaging Sadr’s militiamen on the outskirts of town and attempting to force him to disarm through a combination of negotiation with him by other Shiite leaders and military force.

In Baghdad, the latest in a series of roadside bombs exploded early Sunday along a busy market street in the Bayaa neighborhood. The bomb was hidden in an empty carton of bananas, neighbors said. Witnesses said two policemen were trying to remove the device safely when it blew up, killing at least seven people, including a child standing at the gate of his house. Broken glass and ruined produce littered the market.

Residents speculated that the device was designed to hit a U.S. patrol.

“They were patrolling the area all night long,” said Yousef Mohammed, a 38-year-old shopkeeper.

Later in the day, news services reported a bomb at a central Baghdad hotel used by foreign contractors. Hotels used by foreigners are a frequent target of insurgents. No one was reported killed, but the six injured were two Iraqis, two Nepalese guards and two Britons, Associated Press reported.

Special correspondents Said Rifai and Mohammed Arrawi in Baghdad contributed to this report.