eFluxMedia : Latest US Raid in Baghdad: 13 Dead, 52 Wounded, Women and Children

Latest US Raid in Baghdad: 13 Dead, 52 Wounded, Women and Children

by Diane Smith | October 21, 2007

The latest US military operation was carried out on Sunday in the Shiite district of Sadr City (eastern Baghdad) and it ended with the killing of at least 13 people and the injuring of 52 other.

The American soldiers were backed by the air force. According to a media source in the Office of the Martyr al-Sadr, an organization loyal to the radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, the US forces surrounded several areas in that sector and the air raids followed by ground forces raids led to the killing of civilians - among them women and children - police source told the independent Iraqi news agency Voices of Iraq.

The US military account of events, on the other hand, sounded a bit different.

"In an intelligence-driven operation this morning in Sadr City, Coalition forces were engaged in a firefight that resulted in the killing of an estimated six criminals," the statement said.

The goal of the military maneuver was to capture or kill an Iran-funded special group leader previously involved in acts of kidnapping. The statement added that the air support was called after the ground forces were attacked. The initial reports of the US army showed no civilian or troop casualties.

"We continue to support the Government of Iraq in welcoming the commitment by Moqtada al-Sadr to stop attack and we will continue to show restraint in dealing with those who honor his pledge," said Major Winfield Danielson, the spokesman for the Multinational Force- Iraq.

Sadr City shelters the Mehdi Army militia, whose affiliates follow the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr. It’s a poor district that has witnessed numerous clashes between the militants and the US military.

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