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Published: April 1, 2008 at 1:48 AM
Thousands feared dead from chemical attack in Iraq
HEIDELBERG, Germany, April 1 (UPI)
Nearly a week after Maliki's security forces began fighting what
amounted to a draw with Sadr's Mahdi Army militia on the streets of
the southern port of Basra and in Iraq's capital, armed militia
members unleashed
a chemical weapons attack in souther Baghdad which authorities say
killed hundreds and perhaps
thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians. It was not known at the time
if US troops were among the casualties.
Preliminary reports suggest that the chemical used was VX Nerve Gas.
It is not known where the VX nerve agent originated, whether from old
stockpiles pre-1991 or from newer, perhaps undisclosed weapons
stockpiles of Saddam's regime which many believed did not exist, but
now
may have to admit did exist.
After the attacks, the signs of battle remained: burned tires, charred
pavement, bomb and rocket craters on the streets of this Shiite slum,
as hundreds lay dead under murals and ads festooned with the anti-
American cleric's image.
On the edge of Sadr City, where a vehicle ban was still being
enforced, an Iraqi army officer stared at a giant mural of Sadr's
father, a grand ayatollah who died under the regime of Saddam Hussein
and the man for whom the Baghdad district is named. "This man's son is
responsible for this great tradgedy," the officer said.
As an explosion sounded in the distance, fears of another chemical
attack spread; the Iraqi officer said the Mahdi Army had better
weapons than the government soldiers did, including rocket-propelled
grenades and newer machine guns and now apparently chemical weapons
as well. He acknowledged that some policemen from Sadr City were
active members of the militia and that others had offered their tacit
support. As a result, the Iraqi army had to rely on the U.S. military
to push back the militia in the district of 2.5 million people, the
officer said as a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle swiveled its cannon at
suspected militia passing by the entrance to the neighborhood.
Inside Sadr City, a policeman navigated the roads, which had been
booby-trapped with bombs in case the Americans tried to enter. He said
the militia planted the explosives at night and detonated them by
remote control. But he wasn't worried.
He pointed to an area where he said a U.S. armored vehicle had burned,
sending flames into a police station and market. "When they see a
police car coming, they don't detonate the explosive because they
don't see police as targets," the officer said
At Sadr's compound, in a room decorated with plastic flowers, Sheik
Salman Freiji, head of the Sadr organization in east Baghdad, called
on parliament to force Maliki to resign. He also warned that the
Sadrists would us all means at their disposal to fight the Americans,
apparently even chemical weapons..
"The military operations against the occupation forces in Iraq will
continue until the last soldier of the occupation leaves Iraq," Freiji
said.
Times staff writers Caesar Ahmed, Said Rifai, Saif Hameed and Saif
Rasheed contributed to this report.
Thousands feared dead from chemical attack in Iraq
HEIDELBERG, Germany, April 1 (UPI)
Nearly a week after Maliki's security forces began fighting what
amounted to a draw with Sadr's Mahdi Army militia on the streets of
the southern port of Basra and in Iraq's capital, armed militia
members unleashed
a chemical weapons attack in souther Baghdad which authorities say
killed hundreds and perhaps
thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians. It was not known at the time
if US troops were among the casualties.
Preliminary reports suggest that the chemical used was VX Nerve Gas.
It is not known where the VX nerve agent originated, whether from old
stockpiles pre-1991 or from newer, perhaps undisclosed weapons
stockpiles of Saddam's regime which many believed did not exist, but
now
may have to admit did exist.
After the attacks, the signs of battle remained: burned tires, charred
pavement, bomb and rocket craters on the streets of this Shiite slum,
as hundreds lay dead under murals and ads festooned with the anti-
American cleric's image.
On the edge of Sadr City, where a vehicle ban was still being
enforced, an Iraqi army officer stared at a giant mural of Sadr's
father, a grand ayatollah who died under the regime of Saddam Hussein
and the man for whom the Baghdad district is named. "This man's son is
responsible for this great tradgedy," the officer said.
As an explosion sounded in the distance, fears of another chemical
attack spread; the Iraqi officer said the Mahdi Army had better
weapons than the government soldiers did, including rocket-propelled
grenades and newer machine guns and now apparently chemical weapons
as well. He acknowledged that some policemen from Sadr City were
active members of the militia and that others had offered their tacit
support. As a result, the Iraqi army had to rely on the U.S. military
to push back the militia in the district of 2.5 million people, the
officer said as a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle swiveled its cannon at
suspected militia passing by the entrance to the neighborhood.
Inside Sadr City, a policeman navigated the roads, which had been
booby-trapped with bombs in case the Americans tried to enter. He said
the militia planted the explosives at night and detonated them by
remote control. But he wasn't worried.
He pointed to an area where he said a U.S. armored vehicle had burned,
sending flames into a police station and market. "When they see a
police car coming, they don't detonate the explosive because they
don't see police as targets," the officer said
At Sadr's compound, in a room decorated with plastic flowers, Sheik
Salman Freiji, head of the Sadr organization in east Baghdad, called
on parliament to force Maliki to resign. He also warned that the
Sadrists would us all means at their disposal to fight the Americans,
apparently even chemical weapons..
"The military operations against the occupation forces in Iraq will
continue until the last soldier of the occupation leaves Iraq," Freiji
said.
Times staff writers Caesar Ahmed, Said Rifai, Saif Hameed and Saif
Rasheed contributed to this report.
)