Battles
Rage Across Iraq
Aljazeera
Almost
300 people have died in clashes and attacks during the last three days
in battles between occupation forces and resistance fighters including
supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr across Iraq.
Some 250 Iraqis
have been killed across the country since clashes erupted on Sunday
in the southern city of Najaf before fighting swept across the country.
On Wednesday, 40
Iraqis were killed and scores injured in the city of Ramadi, Aljazeera's
correspondent said.
The US military
confirmed it lost 12 marines in Ramadi on Tuesday when a base came under
attack. It was the deadliest single strike against occupation forces
since the start of the war.
The White House
quickly declared that the raid would not oust forces from Iraq. US officials
said there were "significant losses" to resistance fighters,
but gave no further details.
Also on Wednesday,
two US soldiers were killed in separate attacks in Baghad and Balad,
north of the capital.
During the past
three days US forces have lost 33 soldiers. A Ukrainian and Salvadoran
were also killed.
Causalities
In the restive town
of Falluja, at least 105 people were killed in the past 24 hours, including
women and children, our correspondent said.
Four Iraqis died
overnight in fresh clashes between occupation soldiers and al-Sadr loyalists
in al-Sadr City, a suburban Baghdad stronghold. Another three Iraqi
civilians died of injuries sustained in earlier fighting.
In the southern city of Karbala, Polish troops killed the head of al-Sadr's
office.
Many children were among the
casualties
Earlier, US military officials said they would "destroy" al-Sadr's
al-Mahdi army. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt also called on al-Sadr
to turn himself in to face murder charges, and help end the violence.
Also, in the southern
city of Kut, a South African working for a British security company
was killed by al-Mahdi militiamen, reported sources from the occupation
forces.
The sources said
he had died when the house he was living in with other "contractors"
was attacked by Shia militia.
Kut has been the scene of violent clashes for the past three
days between Shia militiamen and forces of the US-led
occupation.
In Tikrit, north
of Baghdad, a US military base was hit by Katyusha rockets. "Columns
of smoke were seen at the site of the attack but no casualties among
the occupation troops were reported," said our correspondent in
Tikrit.
Also, 15 followers of al-Sadr were arrested by the American forces in
al-Shula area, west of Baghdad.
Retreat
Beleaguered Bulgarian
troops called for US reinforcements in Karbala where pitched battles
have been fought. And Ukrainian forces, on their part, have pulled out
of Kut, the latest southern battlefront with al-Sadr supporters.
Five Iranians and
three Iraqi civilians were killed when occupation soldiers opened fire
on their vehicle near a checkpoint in the holy city.
Scores of Iraqi
civilians have been killed and wounded by occupation fire since fighting
broke out in the southern city of Najaf, before sweeping to Falluja,
Ramadi, Nasiriya, Amara, Baghdad, Karbala, Kut, Kirkuk and Baquba.
Men dig through the ruins of a
house destroyed in Falluja
And near the northern
city of Kirkuk US occupation soldiers killed eight Iraqis, including
a child, and injured 12 others in an exchange of gunfire during a demonstration
to protest against US attacks on the besieged town of Falluja.
Some 1500 protesters
in Hawija denounced what they described as the US massacres in Falluja,
where almost 90 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the past
three days. US forces have sealed off Falluja for three days now in
an effort to crush the resistance there.
In Baquba, a US
helicopter landed "after taking fire," reported US army. There
were no reports of casualties.
Sistani's condemnation
Iraq's top Shia
leader Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani condemned the way US-led occupation
forces were tackling the events in Iraq and called for calm on all sides
and an end to violence.
"We condemn
the way the occupying forces are dealing with
current events, just as we condemn aggression against public and private
property which leads to unrest and stops Iraqi officials from carrying
out their duties in the service of the people," a statement issued
by Sistani's office in Najaf said on Wednesday.
"We call for
the matter to be dealt with wisdom and patience
and in peaceful ways, abstaining from any provocative steps
which will lead to more chaos and bloodshed."