Calm returns to Sadr City as vehicle curfew lifted (Roundup)

Apr 12, 2008, 13:06 GMT

Baghdad - Calm was restored to the Sadr City area of east Baghdad Saturday after Iraqi security authorities lifted the vehicle curfew imposed on the Shiite city on March 25, witnesses said.

Despite US and Iraqi military clashes with militants in the Shiite neighbourhood following an attack on a convoy Friday, the Iraqi forces lifted the vehicle curfew from early Saturday morning in Sadr City, according to a statement issued by Baghdad's security operation office.

The statement called upon citizens to abide by all instructions issued by security forces that stressed the importance of driving in designated safe routes and streets, warning that other streets could be planted with remote-controlled roadside explosives.

Witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agnetur dpa that the curfew was still being imposed in the streets of Jwader, Falah and Dokhl.

Although some stores have re-opened, students were not able to go back to their schools, due to closed streets in many districts, witnesses said.

On Friday, heavy fighting was reported between US-Iraqi forces and militants in Sadr City, while US helicopters hovered over the area and fired at houses and buildings.

The US military said in a statement Friday that their soldiers killed two snipers, two people firing rocket-propelled grenades and several others after coming under attack in Sadr City.

In separate incident in Sadr City, a US convoy was damaged by six roadside bombs and came under fire from nearby buildings. The soldiers returned fire and killed at least four of the attackers.

US forces killed two more suspected insurgents with tank rounds, while an air force drone later killed three people planting a road side bomb, the US military said.

According to local witnesses, at least 70 people were killed and another 300 wounded since the government launched an offensive against militants and criminals in Sadr City and other Shiite neighbourhoods on March 25.

Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani condemned the killing of Riyad al-Nuri, closest aide and brother-in-law of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, describing the incident as 'vicious.'

Sending a message of condolence to al-Sadr on Saturday, Talabani said the crime was a part of the violence 'creating strife among brothers of the same state, religion and ethnicity.'

Al-Nuri was killed on Friday by militants in the city of Najaf, some 180 kilometres south of Baghdad. Many Sadrists hold the government responsible for his death.

In reaction to al-Nuri's death, Iraqi government forces imposed on Friday a curfew on Najaf, especially in areas where Sadrists are concentrated.

However, the curfew in Najaf was lifted on Saturday, after scores of Shiites had mourned al-Nuri in a massive funeral procession.

Separately, militants shot dead one member of the Awakening Council and wounded another two in the Had Moksar district of Baquba, some 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, police sources told dpa.

In another incident, one Awakening Council member and another two, including an Iraqi soldier, were killed when a bomb went off in the Abu Khamis area, police said.

The explosive device was detonated as the Iraqi forces along with members of the Awakening Councils gathered to foil the explosion attempt.

The Awakening Councils are local police squads located mainly in Sunni Iraqi provinces and aim at fighting militants of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Also in Baquba, a police officer was killed and another civilian was wounded when militants shot them in Jlolaa area.