Bullets, Confusion Filled Air in Sadr City (Somalia or Hue redux?)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-sadr6apr06,1,4687998,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines

It turned nasty at 5 p.m.

A U.S. military patrol was navigating the pitted streets of the Baghdad slum that is the stronghold of firebrand cleric Muqtader Sadr late Sunday afternoon when it ran into about 30 members of the cleric's personal volunteer army.

But militia members rebuffed orders to lay down their arms. They and supporters hidden in a maze of surrounding buildings showered the Americans with small-arms fire, pipe bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

The echoes of gunfire raining down from the rooftops sent Iraqi police fleeing their precincts and forced the American patrol to duck into an abandoned building. Two other patrols wound their way into the heart of the slum, and they were attacked almost simultaneously on all sides. Militiamen toppled market stalls into the narrow streets to create roadblocks, and combat continued as shadows lengthened and night fell.

It took more than four hours and a dozen tanks to quell the fighting. When the bullets finally stopped, dozens of Iraqis and eight U.S. troops were dead, with 40 more Americans wounded.

[teryang]

1. Pretty good report

The reports of incidents so far have been sketchy. Thanks for this post.