Updated at 7:15 p.m. EDT, May 8, 2008
Iraqi authorities ordered residents of Sadr City to temporarily abandon the Shi’ite suburb of Baghdad as fighting between Iraqi forces and the Mahdi army continue. At least 52 Iraqis were killed and 157 more were wounded across the country. A number of people were also killed or wounded in Basra, but their nationalities were not released. No Coalition deaths were reported.
Hospital officials reported 15 dead and 112 wounded at two Sadr City hospitals. Women, children, and the elderly were among the casualties. Fourteen gunmen may also be among the 19 dead already reported. Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces ordered residents to leave the city and take temporary shelter elsewhere. Over 8,000 of the city’s 2.5 million people have already left. Heavy fighting has taken place there since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ramped up his campaign against political rival Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr two months ago under the guise of a security operation in Basra.
In Baghdad, two dumped bodies were found. No casualties were reported after a rocket hit the BBC office. A Katyusha rocket injured three people in Mansour. No casualties were reported during mortar attacks on the Green Zone. U.S. airstrikes injured eight people in Obeidi and Fadhiliya. Mortars in Fadhiliya left two dead and eight wounded. Three people were injured on Palestine St. when their home was hit by mortar fire. Also, U.S. forces denied having helped close down a Sadrist radio station yesterday.
Yesterday, fighting in Basra left a total of two people dead and eight more injured. The nationalities of the casualties were not reported, but it is known that four of the injured were Coalition soldiers. Six of the attackers were killed during a U.S. airstrike.
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and nine were wounded during an attack near Ramadi. Then, U.S. forces provided support and killed six gunmen.
Eight people were wounded when gunmen attacked a police station in Yathrib. Women were among the wounded.
The government asked Syria to investigate reports that gunmen, who killed 13 policemen in the area of al-Qaim, were based across the border and staging attacks from there.
In Baiji, three Sahwa members were shot dead at an Awakening Council (Sahwa) checkpoint.
An IED killed a woman and injured two others in Arab Jabara.
In Kirkuk, four Iraqi soldiers were wounded during a roadside bombing.
U.S. forces arrested two policemen in Muqdadiyah.
A foreign al-Qaeda leader was killed in Samarra.
Mosul is under a curfew until further notice.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
