Baghdad district witnesses deadly mayhem with guns, copters

Baghdad district witnesses deadly mayhem with guns, copters By Mohammad Al-Ghazzi BAGHDAD, April 20 (KUNA) -- Fierce clashes broke out on Friday in the district of Hey Al-Amel southwest of the Iraqi capital and American gunship helicopters machined-gunned a mosque in the residential area, security and police sources reported.
The sources indicated that the violence started between foe gunmen, but escalated later and involved the government regular troops and US Army forces.
Four civilians and three Iraqi Army soldiers were killed, and seven civilians were wounded in the armed clashes close to Al-Bayaa' Mosque, used by followers of the influential Shiite cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr.
The official Iraqi Television reported that American Army gunship helicopters opened fire at the mosque. Sheikh Samir Al-Balaghi, of Al-Sadr's group, said by telephone that many worshippers were caught in the cross-fire in and around the mosque.
During the confrontations, gunmen boarding three cars, opened fire from automatic guns at a force of the Iraqi Army, killing three soldiers. Witnesses said the victims were Iraqi Kurdish personnel who had been brought in to beef up the state forces in the struggle against the insurgents in the Baghdad region. Witnesses said the targetted squad, after being fired upon, opened fire randomly killing one civilian and wounding another.
The witnesses said gunmen, positioned at the mosque, were also involved in the mayhem.
The violence broke after the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, urged the warring Iraqi parties to take precautions against bids to drag them into a cycle of sectarian violence. It was also the first time that armed followers of Al-Sadr involved in such clashes since the authorities enforced a new security plan in the Baghdad region on February 14.
Commenting on soaring violence that killed and wounded more than 500 people over the past two days, Qazi said in a statement that the fiery blasts that rocked the capital were intended to deepen the wedge among the diverse segments of the Iraqi society.
Such horrific attacks threaten the social fabric of the nation and may drag the Iraqis into a vicious circle of blind violence, Qazi warned, alluding in particular to a series of bomb blasts, two days ago, that took the lives of nearly 100 people in the district of Al-Sadriya in the capital.
The fresh violence also coincided with a current visit to the country by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who met with senior US military commanders in the city of Falluja in Al-Anbar.
Nearly a million people have lost their lives since 2003, when the former Baath regime was ousted in an allied military campaign. Since then, remnants of the party and a cocktail of Islamic fundamentalists have been waging a fiery campaign against the Iraqi state and allies. (end) mhg.rk KUNA 201526 Apr 07NNNN