Fighting erupted between police and members of a Shia militia in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday, killing nine Iraqis and wounding 75, police said. The clashes between the Mahdi Army followers and police began about 2 am in the city centre. Both sides remained on the streets by sunrise, and NasiriyahÂ’s shops remained closed, said a police spokesman in Dhi Qar, the province where Nasiriyah is located. He said the nine people - six civilians, two Mahdi Army commandos and one policeman - were killed and 75 Iraqis were wounded. The police officer spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety. It was not clear what started the fighting in Nasiriyah, 320 kilometres southeast of Baghdad.
Separately, police said on Wednesday that a truck bomb laden with chlorine gas exploded in a market area in a mostly Shia town north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 45 people and wounding 60. The attack in volatile Diyala province took place in a market area in the town of Abu Sayda, a source in the police headquarters in DiyalaÂ’s capital of Baquba. News of the attack did not emerge until Wednesday. |