Two bombs exploded in a market near a highly revered Shiite shrine in Najaf, Iraq, today, killing at least 24 people and injuring 30.

Plumes of black smoke rose above the embattled city of Najaf today after American warplanes bombed insurgent positions overnight and supporters of a radical cleric charged that shrapnel from a US attack had hit parts of the Imam Ali Shrine. The military denied the claim.

American forces fought with gunmen protecting rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s house in clashes that killed one woman and wounded three others in the Iraqi holy city of Kufa.