Fallujah, Iraq — U.S. troops battled guerrillas Tuesday on the edge of Fallujah in an operation to crush the insurgency there, as violence inspired by supporters of an anti-U.S. Shia Muslim cleric again spread to at least four cities, with 30 Iraqis killed.
The military reported five Marines and three soldiers killed in operations over the past two days. A Ukrainian soldier also died Monday in a battle in Kut, southeast of Baghdad.
After a weekend of countrywide violence sparked primarily by followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, fighting was reported again in Nasiriyah, Kut, Amarah and northern Baghdad. Fifteen Iraqis were killed in Nasiriyah and another 15 dead in Amarah, coalition military officials said.
Mr. al-Sadr left his fortress-like complex on Tuesday, vowing to shed his own blood in the drive to oust the U.S. occupation.
Iraqi Shiites take part in a funeral procession Tuesday in the impoverished Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad after a night of heavy U.S.-militant clashes. (Patrick Baz/AFP)
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U.S. officials have suggested that they will move soon to arrest Mr. al-Sadr, who announced Tuesday that has left a mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, where he has been holed up since Sunday. He is surrounded by militiamen pledging to resist any attempt to capture him.
Mr. al-Sadr moved to his office in the nearby city of Najaf, in an alley near the city's holiest shrine, according to a top aide, Sheik Qays al-Khaz'ali.
“I have pledged not to allow a drop of blood to be shed except my own,” Mr. al-Sadr said in a statement.
He said he was moving to avoid bloodshed in a mosque.
In a series of U.S. television interviews on Tuesday, Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq, acknowledged problems as the coalition approaches a June 30 handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis.
“We have problems, there's no hiding that. But basically Iraq is on track to realize the kind of Iraq that Iraqis want and Americans want, which is a democratic Iraq,” Mr. Bremer said on ABC's Good Morning America.
He said, however, that continuing disturbances would not affect the U.S. handover schedule.
“June 30 is the date. We're going to stick to it,” he said.
An official in Washington, said all U.S. civilian workers in Iraq, including those working for the Coalition Provisional Authority, had been told to remain inside their compounds since Monday because of security worries. It was not clear how long the rule would remained in place.
The bulk of the coalition force has remained on Fallujah's edge, apparently held at bay by tough resistance against forays into the outskirts.
U.S. commanders have vowed to root out insurgents after last week's slaying and mutilation of four American civilians.
The assault on Fallujah, west of Baghdad, coincides with a tougher U.S. stand on the fiercely anti-U.S. Mr. al-Sadr, who has built up a private militia, the Mahdi Army.
Mr. al-Sadr's militiamen clashed with coalition troops Sunday in Baghdad and outside the city of Najaf, to the south, in fierce fighting that killed 61 people, including eight American soldiers. Clashes also broke out Monday in a northern Baghdad neighbourhood.
The deaths of the three U.S. soldiers announced Tuesday occurred in a neighbourhood near the scene of Monday's fighting, but the military did not release details.
The confrontation with Mr. al-Sadr and the offensive against Fallujah appeared to be a tougher approach by U.S. forces ahead of the June 30 handover.
Violence continued Tuesday in the southern cities of Amarah and Nasiriyah.
In Nasiriyah, 15 Iraqis were killed and 35 wounded in clashes with Italian troops, an Italian news agency reported. Twelve Italians troops were slightly wounded, the Italian Defence Ministry reported.
The Apcom agency quoted U.S.-led coalition spokeswoman Paola Della Casa as saying the Iraqi attackers used civilians as human shields during the attack. She said a woman and two children were among the dead.
According to the Defence Ministry in Rome, gunmen opened fire on Italian forces patrolling the streets and bridges over the Euphrates after violent protests in the area. The Italians returned fire, and at the end of the gun battle regained control of the main bridges, a statement said.
The ministry said the coalition headquarters building in Nasiriyah also came under attack.
Fighting overnight in Amarah between Mr. al-Sadr's followers and British troops kills 15 Iraqis and wounded eight, coalition spokesman Wun Hornbyckle said.
In the Shia city of Kut, a Ukrainian soldier was killed and five were wounded when militants attacked an armoured personnel carrier, the Defence Ministry said. Ukraine has about 1,650 troops in Iraq, the third-largest contingent among countries that did not take part in last year's major combat operations.
About 500 Japanese soldiers stationed in Samawah in the far south have been ordered to halt work on repairing roads and other humanitarian activities outside the safety of their camp until after festivities for the Shia holy day of Arbaeen on April 11, Kyodo News reported.
After Sunday's violence, Mr. Bremer cancelled a trip to Washington this week, a Senate aide said Monday. No reason was given, the aide said.
A senior officer in Washington said U.S. military commanders have begun studying how they might increase troops in Iraq should violence spread.
The showdown with Mr. al-Sadr could increase tensions with Iraq's Shia majority, although most Shiites reject the 30-year-old cleric as a renegade and look to older moderates for leadership. U.S. officials appear to be counting on Shiites not to rally around Mr. al-Sadr if they move against him.
