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May. 14th, 2004 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterbadgerfrom the Post
I guess the cemetary didn't lose its holiness when the al Mahdi Army started using it as a weapons depot and a firebase?
No, of course not. Silly me.
BAGHDAD, May 14 -- U.S. forces battled insurgents loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr Friday morning in the vast ancient cemetery in the southern city of Najaf, one of Shiite Islam's most sacred places.
In images broadcast across the Middle East on Arabic satellite channels, two U.S Army Kiowa helicopters fluttered above the sea of ochre and tan tombs on the edge of the city. Olive-green Abrams tanks, part of the 1st Armored Division, appeared to fire into the tombs. Plumes of gray and black smoke puffed up from between the grave markers.
Insurgents carrying automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade launchers could be seen scurrying among the tombs.
The fight was one of several battles Friday in Najaf and in the city of Karbala as U.S. troops attempted to clear nests of militiamen firing at police or troops.
"The cemetery lost its holiness in the early hours of today when the U.S. forces started to attack," said Khalid Farhan, 55, who owns the Thulfiqar Hotel in downtown Najaf. "Many of the graves have been destroyed. But we can say that people are dying and nice buildings are being destroyed also today. Who cares right now about graves?"
I guess the cemetary didn't lose its holiness when the al Mahdi Army started using it as a weapons depot and a firebase?
No, of course not. Silly me.
