Gunmen take police station in Najaf; U.S. military plans to scale down ope

[Judi Lynn]

Gunmen take police station in Najaf; U.S. military plans to scale down operations
By Danica Kirka, Associated Press, 6/10/2004 10:29

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Shiite gunmen seized a police station in the holy city of Najaf and held it for two hours Thursday in the first outbreak of fighting since an agreement to end weeks of bloody clashes between U.S. troops and militia forces. Four Iraqis were killed and 13 were injured, hospital and militia officials said.

As violence continued before Iraq authorities prepared for the handover of power, Iraq's interim prime minister sought to shore up internal political support by promising to honor the interim constitution.

Also Thursday, gunmen claiming to belong to a militant Islamic group displayed four Turks they said were kidnapped in Iraq, demanding that Turkish companies end all business here and pull staff out of the country.

Chaos swept the southern city of Najaf after gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr overran the Ghari police station, which is 250 yards from the Imam Ali Shrine, witnesses said. The station was looted and police cars were burned.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/162/world/Gunmen_take_police_station_in_:.shtml

[gottaB]

1. "The Moqtada militia is militarily defeated."

Sadr's militia defeated: US

New Battles in Najaf, Casting Doubt on Announced Truce

From the people who took Um Qasr, again and again.

One detail that jumped out at me from the story floda posted, was that victory had also been declared in Kut, Diwaniyah and Karbala. Were you aware that the US had been defeated in those cities? Most newspaper readers probably missed that.