Military reports 14 U.S. deaths during weekend

Still looking for key suspects
The Mahdi Army, under the stridently anti-American al-Sadr, has emerged as one of the strongest autonomous forces in U.S.-occupied Iraq, and has been implicated in the wave of sectarian killings — of Sunni Muslims by Shiites and Shiites by Sunni groups — that has bloodied Iraq.

American and Iraqi forces launched “Operation Black Eagle” about two months ago in Diwaniyah, in search of five wanted senior Mahdi Army figures. About 180 suspected members were rounded up, but none of the five, said Ali.

The two sides had agreed on a truce two weeks ago, an accord that broke down with this weekend’s clashes.

In the U.S. air attack late Saturday in east Baghdad, the U.S. command said an Apache helicopter team was alerted to men setting up multiple rocket firing positions aimed at the Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices.

Four men were killed and one vehicle and 10 rockets destroyed by the Apache fire, the military said, and six other suspects were captured by ground forces of the 82nd Airborne Division. State-run Iraqiya television said the attack occurred in Habibiyah, a Shiite area on the edge of the Mahdi Army’s Sadr City stronghold, five miles northeast of the Green Zone.

A recent increase in mortar and rocket attacks on the U.S.-controlled area has raised concern, especially since they are occurring during the U.S.-led crackdown in Baghdad.

In other violence Sunday:

• Gunmen at a fake checkpoint in Baqouba, 35 miles north of Baghdad, killed two passengers and wounded eight when they opened fire on minibuses that sought to flee from the highway trap.
• Police found eight bodies in an industrial area of the western city of Fallujah.

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