U.S. forces clash with radical cleric’s army in holy city

U.S. forces clashed Monday with gunmen protecting the house of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Kufa. One woman was killed and three people were wounded, a hospital official said.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment.

At least six U.S. military vehicles entered the Zahra area in Kufa near al-Sadr’s house, which is protected by his militia, the Mahdi Army, witnesses said.

Heavy gunfire and a mortar barrage set cars on fire before Iraqi police intervened and the U.S. forces withdrew, witnesses said.

``One woman was killed and we have three injured,’’ said Ajwak Kadhim, director at Al-Hakim Hospital in Kufa, 100 miles south of Baghdad.

Al-Sadr, who is wanted by U.S. forces on an Iraqi warrant for the April 2003 murder of a moderate cleric in the nearby city of Najaf, was in his house at the time, witnesses said.

The radical cleric, who has grassroots support for his anti-coalition stance, began a two-month rebellion in early April after the U.S.-led occupation authority closed his newspaper and arrested a key aide. A series of truces ended the fighting, and the issue of whether to arrest al-Sadr was dropped without resolution.(AP)

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