NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
August 12, 2004
Release Number: 04-08-39
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IRAQI FORCES DEAL MEHDI MILITIA BLOW IN AL KUT
BAGHDAD - Joint Iraqi Police Service, Iraqi National Guard, and U.S. Special Forces operations in Al Kut, Aug. 11, against Mehdi Militiamen may have broken the back of anti-Iraqi forces in the city, according to the city's governor,
The actions came after Iraqi police stations and other government buildings were attacked and overrun in some cases.
The fighting culminated in one area when Iraqi guardsmen and police launched an assault across the Tigris River in a small boat under machinegun fire and retook a key bridge in the city. Iraqi forces continue to hold the bridge.
Multi-National Forces, additionally, launched an AC-130 gunship - providing close air support to forces in the city. Included in the MNF battle damage assessment were the destruction of the Al Kut "Sadr Bureau," one Mehdi Militia manned-and-controlled Iraqi police station that had been overrun, 23 other buildings and eight vehicles.
One MNF serviceman was reported injured in the fight and evacuated after briefly returning to the action. Iraqi forces were fighting side-by-side with the MNF forces in the area.
Al Kut lies roughly 110 miles southeast of the capital city of Baghdad on the Tigris River.
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