Americans will storm the house of al-Sadra

Near the house of the radical Shiite leader of the Moktada of As-Sadra in Nedjaf on Thursday, a shootout began between his supporters and American troops. As Reuters reports with reference to eyewitnesses, the US Air Force apply air strikes in a nearby territory, as a result of which a fire broke out in some places. The whereabouts of the al-Sadra himself is unknown.

At the same time, it became known about the attack of Shiite militants on the police station in the center of Baghdad. According to eyewitnesses, supporters of the AS-Sadra opened fire from machine guns and grenade launchers along the site on Haifa Street. The shootout ensued.

The fights in the unfinition resumed on Thursday early in the morning. According to the Air Force, for several days the US Army Command threatened the rebels with a massive offensive. On Thursday, Stol seven o’clock in the morning local time, American soldiers, with the support of two helicopters, launched an attack on the local cemetery, where the main number of Sadra supporters, calling themselves the "Mahdi army", were concentrated.

The offensive is accompanied by powerful artillery gaps. The rebels respond with fire from mortars and grenade launchers. The tanks blocked all the roads leading to the main Shiite shrine - the Imam Ali Mausoleum. From the loudspeakers there were warnings to the local population to leave the city, as the military was going to "clear the city of" Mahdi Army ".

Representatives of the Iraqi authorities say that the shrine will not become an object of hostilities. It is added that in any damage caused to her, the rebels will be to blame.

Together with American detachments, units of the Iraqi police and the National Guard participate in the battles. They come from different sides and, apparently, intend to take the enemy, the number of which is estimated at about a thousand people, in ticks.

According to earlier the American command, the American and Iraqi military during the week, while the last outbreak of fighting in a nonsense continued, worked out the tactics of joint actions.

It is reported that at least 165 people were killed in Iraq - including 75 people killed during fierce battles in the city of Kut. About 150 were injured in Kut.