Clashes Reported Near Central Iraqi City of Najaf

U.S.-led forces used tanks, artillery and Apache helicopters to fight an Iraqi force of some 1,500 men overnight near the town of Najaf in central Iraq, unidentified military sources told Reuters.

The sources did not provide information on casualties as a result of the Najaf battles, which began on Wednesday night as coalition troops traveled north along the west bank of the Euphrates River towards Baghdad, according to media reports and military officials.

Reuters correspondent Luke Baker reported from the region that U.S. forces had used tanks and heavy artillery to battle Iraqi forces, but said it was unclear whether the Iraqis were regular troops or members of Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guard.

“The battle raged for a few hours. It finished about 3 a.m. [7 p.m. EST Thursday],” Baker said on Friday.

Knight Ridder reporters embedded with Army units near Najaf quoted several U.S. soldiers as saying the Iraqi fighters were armed, but were dressed as civilians. Over the three-day battle, U.S. troops had killed hundreds of Iraqi men, but no U.S. soldiers died in the combat, according to the Knight Ridder account.

“Four U.S. tanks were lost, two apparently to laser-guided, Russian-made, anti-tank missiles,” Knight Ridder reported on Friday.

At Central Command in Doha, Qatar, Brigadier General Vicent Brooks, deputy director of operations, told reporters that troops “defeated” Iraqi forces near Najaf, but downplayed the severity of the clashes.

“Fifth Corps, from the land component, defeated paramilitary attacks north of An Najaf, and continues to shape the battlefield for future operations,” Brooks said.

Brooks did not report any U.S. casualties or the loss of U.S. tanks or helicopters.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahaf on Friday said Iraqi forces near Najaf had killed four coalition troops and destroyed 33 tanks and armored vehicles. He declared the battle a defeat for “the hostile American and British” forces.

“After the Iraqi forces, Fedayeen, civilians and tribesmen confronted them, they withdrew from the area… They took losses in tanks and armored vehicles. They also suffered casualties and had people killed,” he said.

Sahaf said that alleged coalition cluster bombing near Najaf over the last three days had killed 26 civilians and wounded another 60.

“They hit residential areas, and these cowardly people used cluster bombs,” he said at a press briefing in Baghdad on Friday.

These casualty figures have not been confirmed by independent sources or the coalition military officials. Coalition officials have consistently maintained their missions do not target civilians.

Both Knight Ridder and Reuters reported that unidentified military sources expected more fighting in the days ahead.

According to Reuters, “senior U.S. commanders” expected a major battle near Kerbala, a Shiite holy city just north of Najaf, within the next 48 to 72 hours. A large Iraqi brigade of roughly 6,000 Iraqi troops, including tanks, had taken up strategic positions around Kerbala, according to the sources.

The U.S. Central Command did not address these reports at Friday’s press briefing.