NAJAF – Najaf was in the grip of eerie silence Tuesday despite the U.S. jets flying across clear skies and the sound of mortar blasts that shook the town.
After three weeks of often pitched battles between armed followers of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr on the one hand and a coalition of Iraqi and U.S. forces on the other, most shops in Najaf are closed and commercial activity is all but nonexistent.
Many streets in the town, home to the holy Imam Ali shrine, still show burn marks and are blocked to traffic by anything from scrap metal and concrete to large dirt bags.
Residents say sleep has become a novelty amidst the nightly mortar and machine-gun fire. Houses near the Imam Ali shrine have been without electricity or much water since the clashes began, they say.
They point to buildings here and there. Some pointed to one which is now said to be home to snipers from Sadr’s Mahdi army.
Najaf residents say the U.S. army has warned people living around the shrine to vacate their homes, and about 10,000 homes are now empty. Families here have either taken refuge in other parts of the city or left it.
Despite claims by Iraqi officials, the Mahdi army appears in control of the streets leading to the shrine. U.S. and Iraqi forces are within 400-500 meters (1,300-1,600 ft.) of it, but they have been in that position for some days now without being able to push forward.
Sheikh Salah Obeidi, Sadr’s spokesman in Baghdad, told IPS earlier this week that the Mahdi army is willing to vacate the shrine itself and hand it over to religious authorities, but that it intends to remain within the courtyard of the shrine.
"The courtyard is a place different from the holy shrine," Obeidi said. "The courtyard contains several cells that cannot be bombed easily. So these cells are good shelters for the fighters of the Mahdi militia."
Iraqi officials have said they intend to storm Mahdi army positions within days.
But the Mahdi army is not confined to the streets and narrow alleys around the shrine. A roaming militiaman disguised as trolley driver warned two reporters talking on their satellite phones Tuesday several kilometers from the shrine to leave quickly or face the consequences.
The clashes in Najaf have sparked a sharp debate over who is to blame for the violence.
"This has nothing to do with the Mahdi army," an angry resident said. "There are no members of the army here. This is the fault of America."
But another man appeared from a neighboring street to say "this has been brought upon us by the Mahdi army. The reason America is bombing the area is because they have infiltrated it. They [the Mahdi army] are trying to burn Najaf."
One man said he and his family had left their house after a warning by the U.S. military last week. They returned Monday to find it on fire. The cause of the fire was not clear.
"I had just bought a fridge. This was the first year I was drinking cold water," the house owner said with a sarcastic laugh. "It is back again to that," he said, pointing to a picnic cooler.
Several Najaf residents have been killed in the conflict. Hospital officials say most of the victims over the past three weeks have been civilians.
Thirteen-year-old Samir Halim Abdel Wahab lay bedridden at Najaf General Hospital. Relatives in the room said he was hit by shrapnel from a U.S. rocket Monday while out buying bread for the family.
His mother Rahina was in near hysteria. "I was searching for him for four hours. I went to the market. I went to the bakery. He was nowhere to be found. I did not know what to do. I came to the hospital and the doctor said he was here."
Hospital administrator Sabah Razi said "dozens" of civilians are brought to the hospital each day. He could not give figures of how many injured and dead the hospital had received in the past three weeks.
Many residents in Najaf, while deeply religious, say the fight between Sadr and the U.S. and official Iraqi forces is a political issue, and one they wish they could avoid.
"Most people in the city are civilians," said resident Salem Kamel Abdullah. "As for the recent disturbances, people realize these are political problems and wish to have nothing to do with them. People want to see a peaceful settlement to the issue."
