Friday, April 11, 2008 BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United States launched an air strike on the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, hours after 15 people died in fighting between American troops and militants.
Military officials said yesterday that 15 militants were killed in four separate clashes during the night while Iraqi police said two more men were killed yesterday morning in the air strike on a building, targeted by missiles after a number of oxygen cylinders were spotted on the sidewalk outside.
The violence coincided with the congressional testimony of the Bush administration’s top two officials in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Petraeus recommended suspending U.S. troop withdrawals in Iraq while the security situation remains unstable, a recommendation embraced by President Bush yesterday.
But Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki told President Bush in a telephone conversation Wednesday that Iraqi forces could carry out their duties and U.S. troops should be pulled out as the situation permits, according to a senior government adviser speaking on condition of anonymity.
Yesterday, residents continued to flee fighting in the sprawling Sadr City district, the principal stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has faced widespread criticism over his decision to crack down on the militias.
Violence in Iraq had declined last year and early this year following a cease-fire by al-Sadr, an influx of American troops and a Sunni revolt against al-Qaeda in Iraq. But the recent government crackdown on the Mahdi Army has provoked fierce retaliation.
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