Mehdi Army Attacks Iraqi Police

Ceasefire on, ceasefire off, on, off, on off...Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Mehdi Army fighters attacked police patrols in southern Baghdad overnight, police said on Friday, further fraying a seven-month-old ceasefire called by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his militia.

The clashes in Baghdad's Shurta district follow outbreaks of violence in the southern Iraqi city of Kut in which Mehdi Army fighters have battled U.S. and Iraqi security forces. Three people were killed in fresh fighting in Kut late on Thursday.

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U.S. military spokesman Major Mark Cheadle said U.S. forces had launched an operation on Thursday in the western Rashid district of Baghdad, which includes Shurta, to target gunmen firing mortar bombs on civilian areas.

Six gunmen were killed by ground troops and air strikes by Apache attack helicopters and two detained, he said. An Iraqi police lieutenant meanwhile had been kidnapped, he added.

Both Kut and Shurta were reported to be quiet on Friday, a Muslim holiday, although police said Iraqi and U.S. forces had surrounded the southern Baghdad district.

BODIES IN BLACK SACKS

Two police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the clashes in Shurta began on Thursday night when Mehdi Army fighters launched simultaneous attacks on police patrols and attacked a checkpoint.

"They captured 17 policemen and forced them to take off their clothes. Then they freed them in their underwear," said one of the officials.

The second police source said the gunmen had burnt several cars and captured a number of weapons from the police. U.S. forces later brought eight bodies in black plastic sacks to al- Bayaa police station in southern Baghdad, he said.

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