U.S. warplanes, artillery and marines engaged Shi’ite militiamen in a fierce battle around a shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Monday in some of the heaviest fighting since the 20-day-old rebellion erupted. U.S. aircraft and ground artillery launched several strikes that rocked the area near the Imam Ali mosque, where Mehdi Army fighters of radical Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have holed up in defiance of the U.S.-backed interim government. An AC-130 gunship, equipped with rapid-fire cannon and howitzers, circled above the southern city while artillery and armored fighting vehicles struck on the ground. Full Story
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