Abu Gilel added that Iraqi security forces repeatedly called on the group through loudspeakers to drop their arms and surrender, but in vain. The leader ordered his followers to continue fighting and he, in turn, asked security forces to cease fire and join him, the governor said. The leader had also told his followers that no weapon could harm them because Imam Mahdi was with them, and they believed him. When a U.S. helicopter was downed, he pointed that out to them as evidence. However, once he was killed, the majority of his followers surrendered, Abu Gilel said.
Regarding documents discovered at the camp, Abu Gilel said that they found British and Arab passports and documents, proving the involvement of “a certain neighboring Arab country.” A barber was brought from the UK to adorn the leader of the armed group so that he would look close to Imam Mahdi, according to his descriptions in Shia tradition. “We also found musical CDs that confirmed for us that he is a graduate of Fine Arts, specifically Theater, because he perfected the impersonation and was able to deceive his followers,” Abu Gilel said.
The governor slammed Al-Sharqiya TV for reporting that the clashes at Zarga were a result of a tribal dispute with the Hawatim. “Al-Sharqiya channel is well-known for its unabashed hostility to the Prophet’s household (peace be upon them) in general, and to the people of Najaf, specifically,” the governor said. “We have documents that we will show to media outlets to debunk the allegations of Al-Sharqiya.” The governor concluded by extending his thanks to Sadr’s Najaf Bureau and local tribes for what he described as their assistance in this campaign. Buratha also reports that tribal leaders of the Hawatim tribe in Najaf have strongly denied news reports on Al-Sharqiya TV, Azzaman newspaper and several Iraqi websites that members of their tribes were killed in the clashes with “terrorist groups” at Zarga last Monday. According to Buratha, the Hawatim elders asserted their allegiance to the “national government and the guided clerical leadership in Najaf,” adding that they are planning to prosecute the Al-Sharqiya satellite station, which they described as a “Ba’athist mouthpiece for the former regime, feeding on the Iraqi blood shed by the astray Ba’athist, Saddamist and Wahhabi groups.” The Iraqi government had closed the offices of Al-Sharqiya TV two weeks ago, claiming that it was inciting terrorism.
The Sadrist Nahrain Net estimates that 2.5 – 3 million Shi’ite pilgrims commemorated Ashura, the anniversary of the historical Taff battle in which Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet, was martyred along with his followers by the armies of the Ummayid Caliph, at Karbala. There were no massive attacks by Sunni insurgents against Shi’ite pilgrims this year, but several bombings and drive-by shootings at Khanaqin, Mandali and Baladruz in the Diyala Governorate, east of Baghdad, killed about 40 people and wounded another 100, according to Nahrain. Iraqi security forces claimed to have detained five terrorist suspects, including Saudis and Afghans, attempting to infiltrate Karbala with explosives last Sunday. Nahrain also reports from Iraqis living in Jordan that Jordanian authorities prevented Shia Iraqis from observing Ashura rituals and mourning processions at the shrine of Ja’far Al-Tayyar, a small Shi’ite shrine south of Jordan. Jordanian intelligence officers and guards around the shrine reportedly told visitors to the shrine that any Iraqis attempting to recite Shi’ite prayers, mourning chants or perform any other rituals at the shrine would be immediately detained and interrogated before their deportation from Jordan.
The Sunni-majority Adhamiya and Sulaikh districts have been under indiscriminate heavy mortar and Katyusha fire for the last two days from nearby Shi’ite districts, killing at least 24 people and wounding 90 others. Most of the mortar shells hit the vicinity of the Imam Abu Hanifa mosque and shrine, while terrified residents reported dozens of people killed in the attacks. Adhamiya remains the only Sunni-majority area in Baghdad east of the Tigris and has increasingly been a target of effective mortar attacks in an attempt by Shi’ite militias to force its residents over to the western Sunni side of Baghdad. Residents say they have not gone to work or school for weeks because they fear random abductions and assassinations by Shi’ite militias manning fake checkpoints around the district. Across the Tigris River from Adhamiya, the Shi’ite district of Kadhimiya was hit with at least three mortar shells, wounding two children according to eyewitnesses.
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq reported violent clashes in the Sunni Adil district west of Baghdad after “sectarian militias” from Hurriya, Iskan and Hayakil attacked it from three directions. Seven mortar shells hit the area, killing and wounding several civilians.
