British forces kill two in clashes with rebel militia

British forces clashed with a rebel Shiite cleric’s militia which had threatened to unleash 1,000 fighters in Basra today unless four arrested men were freed.

At least two members of Mugtada al-Sadr’s militia was killed and three wounded when they ambushed a British patrol in the southern Iraqi city.

“Coalition forces were attacked with small arms fire and returned fire, killing two enemy fighters,” said a British spokeswoman, adding that no British forces were wounded.

The Mahdi Army earlier had said it was taking up positions close to where British troops normally patrol after a noon deadline passed in its demand for the release of four al-Sadr supporters detained two days earlier.

The British had not received a formal ultimatum, “only rhetoric,” said a British spokesman, Major Ian Clooney. He said the men in custody had been detained for questioning.

An al-Sadr spokesman, Sheikh Assad al-Basri, said the militant group “prepared 1,000 fighters in Basra to confront the British forces who failed to respond to our demands.”

Meanwhile, insurgents loyal to al-Sadr battled fiercely with US and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf in fighting that killed one American soldier, seven Iraqi civilians and seven militants. A US helicopter was shot down.

Bloodshed quickly spread to other Shiite areas, with each side blaming the other in a profound threat to a shaky two-month-old truce.

Al-Sadr’s men also fought with US troops in the Baghdad district of Sadr City, wounding seven Americans shot at government offices in the southern city of Amarah.

“The ceasefire is over because of the actions of the occupation forces, and the situation has started to deteriorate,” warned Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Daraji, a spokesman for al-Sadr in Baghdad.

During the fighting in Najaf, a UH-1 helicopter was hit by gunfire and crashed, injuring the crew. The US command said insurgents attacked a convoy near Najaf, killing one American soldier and wounding five.

In Baghdad, a suicide car bombing at a police station south of Baghdad killed five people and wounded 27, the Interior Ministry said.

The fighting was the worst flare-up between authorities and al-Sadr’s forces since a series of truces two months ago ended weeks of violence that began after the occupation authority closed al-Sadr’s newspaper and arrested a key aide.

The newspaper was recently allowed to start printing again, but tensions had been rising in recent days between al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US forces.

People in Najaf said al-Sadr loyalists attacked a police station with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. US Marines later moved into the area, and busloads of Mahdi Army militants were seen entering the city, residents said.

The Marines intervened “to help the policemen protect the police stations and the city,” said Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi.

He warned of “very bad consequences” if the militiamen did not disarm and leave the holy city.

People in Najaf reported the fighting had caused slight damage to the dome of the Imam Ali Shrine, a revered mosque that is reputed to hold the remains of Imam Ali, the most hallowed saint in Shia Islam.