 BAGHDAD - US-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after coming under heavy attack from Shia gunmen during raids in southern IraqÂ’s Maysan province early on Monday, the US military said.
An official in the office of anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr in the Maysan capital Amara said 17 members of the firebrandÂ’s Mehdi Army had been killed and 45 wounded.
| Tubby wasn't among them, was he. Too valuable to pick up a gun. |
That would mark one of the deadliest incidents between U.S.-led forces and the Mehdi Army since a major security crackdown was launched in Iraq four months ago.
| And let's have some more like this! |
Local officials said British and Iraqi forces were involved in the raids in Amara and the nearby town of Majjar Al Kabir, which the US military said targeted militants smuggling weapons from neighbouring Iran into Iraq. American forces also took part in the operation, said US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver, describing it as one of the biggest in months outside Baghdad against networks trying to smuggle in arms from Iran. Maysan has a long border with Shia Iran.
During the operations, coalition forces came under heavy small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks in both places, the US military said in a statement. ‘Using appropriate escalation of force measures, ground forces were forced to use close air support to suppress the enemy fire. During the close air support, at least 20 terrorists were killed,’ the statement said.
| 'Forced' to use air support? Hell if I was on the ground the air dogs would be my best friends, and they'd always be around. |
The official in SadrÂ’s office in Amara said all the Mehdi Army members were killed in Majjar Al Kabir. |