47,000 US soldiers told they will go to Iraq as clashes continue
FOREIGN STAFF
THE Pentagon is telling about 10,000 active-duty United States army soldiers and marines and 37,000 reserve and national guard troops that they will be sent to Iraq this year, defence officials said yesterday. They are needed to maintain the level of 138,000 US troops in the country.
Officials said commanders in Iraq had decided to keep an increased US military presence there into the autumn because of resurgent violence and mounting American casualties.
They said that about 20,000 troops now being notified would be used to replace a similar number who are currently serving 90 days beyond their promised year-long tours of duty, which had been scheduled to end last month.
The news came as clashes continued across Iraq, with militiamen launching a barrage of mortar shells against a US base in Najaf and government buildings guarded by Bulgarian forces in Karbala.
The latest fighting around the holy city of Najaf, where US troops are locked in a stand-off with the outlawed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, came a day after intense clashes there killed up to 20 Iraqis.
No coalition troops were killed in yesterday’s violence, but four US soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division died after their vehicle overturned during a combat patrol north of Baghdad, the army reported.
The accident brings the US death toll in May to 19. Last month, 140 US troops were killed in Iraq, the worst month since the invasion in March 2003.
Sporadic overnight mortar attacks on the base in Najaf followed intense fighting on Monday between US forces and militiamen loyal to Sadr.
Soldiers moved to the base inside the city last month, after Spanish peacekeepers withdrew from the country.
The military has been cautious about returning fire. Sadr’s office is only a few yards from one of the holiest Shiite shrines and not far from the US base. Officials have repeatedly accused militiamen of storing weapons in shrines and mosques.
In Karbala, which lies 50 miles north of Najaf, the city hall and the police headquarters, which are guarded by Bulgarian soldiers, came under fire before dawn yesterday. No casualties or damage were reported after an attack that lasted about ten minutes.
Sadr’s forces, which launched an uprising across southern Iraq in early April, have stepped up attacks recently - apparently either to pressurise the US to negotiate an end to the stand-off or to goad troops into retaliating and raising Shiite anger.
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