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US, Iraqi Forces Battle Militants South of Baghdad

By Michael Bowman
Washington
08 October 2006

U.S. military commanders say 30 Iraqi militants have been killed during a campaign to crack down on militias blamed for much of Iraq's sectarian violence. Iraqi officials insist progress is being made in improving overall security in the country.

U.S. military officials say fighting erupted in the southern city of Diwaniyah, when U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the house of a suspected local commander of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Ensuing street battles raged for hours, during which time an American tank was seriously damaged by a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades. U.S. officials say the primary target of the raid was captured, along with three other individuals. No U.S. or Iraqi military casualties were reported.

It was the second major clash reported in the city during the past three months.

Elsewhere, insurgents fired on a patrol in Baghdad, killing one U.S. soldier. In the northern city of Mosul, a roadside bomb claimed the life of another American serviceman.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari responded to comments made last week by the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John Warner, who said, unless Iraqi officials can bring violence under control in two to three months, it will be time for the United States to consider "changing course" in Iraq.

Warner, a Virginia Republican and longtime supporter of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, did not elaborate.

Speaking on CNN's Late Edition program Foreign Minister Zebari admitted his government is facing significant security challenges, but suggested the situation is not all bleak.

"The government, we all admit, has a serious challenge, and it needs to rise to that challenge, to improve security and deliver on what it has pledged to the people," said Hoshyar Zebari. "This has been slow, but we have been moving steadily forward. The situation is not as desperate as people think."

Zebari said Iraqi forces are capable of standing on their own to defend the country from militants and terrorists. But he was quick to add that, despite frustration and anger over security problems, most Iraqis do not favor an abrupt withdrawal of coalition forces.