British soldiers injured in Iraq clashes

Three British soldiers were injured in a blast in Basra as coalition troops clashed with forces of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for a second day today. Four Iraqis were killed in an explosion in Baghdad.

The three soldiers were wounded when a large explosion occurred near a coalition convoy about 10:35 am today, according to British spokesman Maj. Ian Clooney. Witnesses said the casualties were British.

In other clashes in the town of Amarah, 180 miles south-east of Baghdad, Al-Sadr’s militia fired mortar shells before dawn at the governor’s office and other British positions.

There were no British casualties, but British Maj. Clooney said “a number of possible mortar positions” were attacked and destroyed.

Clooney denied statements by local residents that British helicopters were used to attack the insurgents.

The explosion in Baghdad occurred in a market in the Biyaa district in the west of the city when police tried to dismantle two bombs found in vendors’ stalls, witnesses said. Four people were killed and 17 were injured, according to the Health Ministry. US troops sealed off the area.

Al-Sadr’s militia launched attacks yesterday in Basra and Amarah in an apparent attempt to open up new fronts as American troops stepped up pressure on his stronghold around the Shiite holy cities of Najaf, Kufa and Karbala. Intensifying skirmishes in the region have killed dozens in the past week.

The US authorities have vowed to kill or capture al-Sadr after he was charged in the murder of a rival cleric last year. The US-led coalition would like to disband al-Sadr’s militia, the al-Mahdi Army, before political power is restored to a new Iraqi government on June 30.

Also today, scattered clashes occurred between US and militia forces in the industrial area of Najaf, where al-Sadr sought refuge last month. Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the area. Iraqi police and US tanks blocked the main road from Najaf to nearby Kufa, residents said.

In Baghdad’s Shiite enclave Sadr City, the cleric’s militia burned tires in the streets to try to keep American troops from entering the area.

Residents of Amarah said a British helicopter fired on houses in the city’s Sadeq district, killing four civilians and destroying several houses. British officials said no helicopters were used in the operation.

Also killed in nearby houses were an 8-month-old child, a man in his 60s and a fourth man, according to local residents. At least eight people were wounded and at least a dozen buildings were destroyed or damaged, according to the families whose homes were hit

In fighting yesterday in Basra, British troops repelled an attack on the governor’s building and armoured vehicles pursued large numbers of gunmen into the city’s impoverished Hanaya neighbourhood. Unable to enter the district’s small alleys, the Britons traded fire with militiamen firing from behind buildings.

British troops in some 50 vehicles surrounded al-Sadr’s Basra headquarters in an hours-long stand-off with militiamen inside. A fierce gunbattle broke out in front of the Iraqi Central Bank, and gunmen seized a key bridge on the main route from the city to points south.