clashed with Shi’ite protesters near the Iraqi city of Najaf, Sunday April 4, killing at least 19 people while scores were injured in the fighting, hospital sources said.
The latest bloodshed came as news emerged that the American military death toll in Iraq rose to 600 Sunday, April 4, after two Marines reportedly died in the dangerous province of Anbar. Most of them lost their lives since May 1, when United States President George W. Bush declared en end to "major combat operations."
Of the total, 410 members of the U.S. military were killed in hostile action and 190 died of other causes, including accidents and suicides, The Associated Press (AP) news agency said. The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 17; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, five; Ukraine, three; Thailand, two; Denmark, Estonia and Poland each have reported one, AP said.
GROWING CONCERN
Sunday’s bloodshed also underscored concern among aid workers, including missionary workers, as well as Iraqi Christians about growing Muslim radicalism in Iraq. The fighting between coalition forces and supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began after protests erupted in Shi’ite areas of central and southern Iraq for the past several days, news reports said.
The demonstrations in Najaf turned violent when Spanish-led troops and Iraqi police battled with Shi’ite marchers near a coalition base in the town of Kufa, The Voice of America (VOA) reported.
The protesters were reportedly furious about the U.S. decision to temporarily shut down a newspaper headed by Moqtada al-Sadr, an outspoken cleric known
for his harsh criticism of America. U.S. officials closed the newspaper’s offices on March 28 saying the paper was inciting violence against the coalition.
SHI’ITES ANGRY
Many Shi’ites are also angry over the alleged detention of a top aide to the cleric, Mustafa al-Yacoubi, but Spanish troops in charge of security around Najaf insist they have not arrested him, VOA added.
The region is also home to the predominantly Sunni Muslim city of Fallujah, where four American civilians working as business contractors were killed and their bodies mutilated by cheering Iraqi crowds last week. American military officials have threatened to react with "overwhelming force" to the latest killings.
Last month also saw the killing of four Southern Baptist missionary workers at a time when evangelicals in Iraq are confronted with both openness for the Gospel and Muslim extremism in several regions., Assist News Service learned.
