US renews violence in Iraq, air strikes on Sadr City kill 11, maim 36

25 April 2008

Baghdad-Violence against civilians gained momentum in Iraq when US air strikes over night killed at least 11 people and wounded 36 others in Sadr City, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

Iraqi soldiers look over the site of a Baghdad market blast that killed three people on Thursday.

The US military launched overnight air strikes on Sadr City, the official said.

Iraqi religious leader Moqtada Sadr called on his supporters to halt attacks on March 30.

Sadr City named after ancestors of the religious leader.

Al-Sadr's supporters have accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government of not holding up its end of the cease-fire agreement, which includes freeing non-convicted prisoners from the Sadrist movement and halting what they call illegal raids on the cleric's followers.

Meanwhile, the US military said a US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad Thursday.

The death brings to 4,051 the number of US military personnel killed in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003.


Further Reading:

Deaths, devastation have got dangerous dimension in Iraq