Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

Donate

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Email
  • RSS
  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2023 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Uncategorized

Italians Battle Sadrists In Nasiriyah

Juan Cole 08/06/2004

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email
0 Shares

Italians Battle Sadrists in Nasiriyah

Late wire services on Friday afternoon in the US report that Nasiriyah was quiet after fighting earlier. Reader Anne Aldridge kindly summarizes a recent ANSA report from Rome on the situation earlier Friday:


Intense combat is under way at Nasiriya between the Moqtada al Sadr militia and

Italian military that support the local police. This information was released by the Italian headquarters. Mortars were fired south of the city on the road to Suq ash Shuyukh, toward a check point run by the Romanians.

No injuries so far among the Italians, while there were some victims among the rebels, who also tried to break through the check point of the Lagunari [translator’s note: a division named after the lagoon around Venice] on one of the city bridges using a car bomb. Iraqi government sources mention 6 dead and 13 injured.

The fighting began yesterday afternoon and continued throughout the night, with a few pauses. After negotiations between the governor and the head of the guerillas, there seemed to be a truce, but more mortar blasts raised the tension. A while ago there was heavy fire against the Lagunari.

The most delicate situation was on the three city bridges, guarded by the Lagunari, that the militia tried to take. In one of these attacks, the Italians hit an auto travelling at high speed while its passengers fired. The car exploded, indicating it may have been a car bomb. A similar attempt was foiled at another bridge. Mortar shells hit the Libeccio base and an electrical substation, causing a partial blackout in the city.

The situation calmed down during the morning after negotiations between the governor

of the province of Dhi Qar, the Shiite militia and the local police. But a short time ago there were more mortar shots and firing. The situation is quite tense.

Anne

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Primary Sidebar

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter and have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.

Twitter

Follow Juan Cole @jricole or Informed Comment @infcomment on Twitter

Facebook



Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2023 All Rights Reserved

Posting....