U.S. troops held back in Najaf battle
Iraqi police had sought help against Mehdi Army
NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- American soldiers held back from helping Iraqi police in their battle against the Mehdi Army in Najaf on Thursday morning, but later U.S. commanders agreed to resupply the police with ammunition, according to a senior U.S. military officer.
The fighting began Wednesday evening -- just before midnight -- when the Mehdi militia fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attacked a police station in the center of Najaf with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, killing two police officers, U.S. military sources said.
Although Najaf Police Chief Sayed al-Jazairi contacted the U.S. commander, asking for American troops to come to his aid, the coalition soldiers were held back from the fight.
"He's gotta learn how to deal with it on his own," a senior U.S. officer told CNN. "We will not get involved unless the situation gets way out of hand."
The fighting continued through the late morning near Najaf's 1920 Revolution Square, witnesses said.
A Najaf hospital official said that along with the two police officers killed, 13 people -- including several police officers and some civilians -- were being treated for wounds.
One factor in the withholding of U.S. soldiers from the battle is its location. The police station under attack is just 500 yards from the Imam Ali Shrine, an area out of bounds for coalition forces under a deal brokered last week between Iraqi leaders and al-Sadr which allowed Iraqi police to return to Najaf.
The governor of Najaf province, Adnan al-Zurufi, requested more ammunition and weapons for the Iraqi police Thursday morning and the U.S. commander agreed to send the supplies, the senior U.S. officer said.
Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey -- commander of the U.S. 1st Armored Division -- is scheduled to visit his troops in the Najaf area on Thursday.
Mortar attack led to deaths of European troops
An attack by insurgents caused the deaths of the six eastern European soldiers working in a demining operation, officials said Wednesday.
Officials initially had said the deaths were caused by an accidental explosion.
Three Slovaks, two Poles and one Latvian died in Tuesday's attack, according to Polish Maj. Slawomir Walenczykowski. The soldiers were killed near As Suwayrah, south of Baghdad.
Lt. Col. Robert Strzlecki said four mortar rounds were fired, including one that struck an ammunition depot the coalition forces used for demining purposes. Artillery shells and other ammunition exploded in the attack.
The news tempered news of the rescue of Polish hostage, Gerzy Kos.
Kos was one of two employees of a construction company kidnapped June 1 from their Baghdad homes by "unknown individuals," the Polish-led command said.
Three Italian hostages also were freed in an operation Tuesday led by Polish and U.S. special forces. (Full story)
Bush wants increased NATO presence
President Bush said Wednesday he hopes the NATO alliance will take on a bigger role in Iraq now that the United Nations has endorsed the country's interim government.
"There's going to be some constraints, obviously. A lot of NATO countries are not in a position to commit any more troops. We fully understand that," Bush told reporters at the Group of Eight summit in Sea Island, Georgia. "But I do think NATO ought to stay involved, and I think we have a good chance of getting that done."
Several NATO members have contributed troops individually to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, and the alliance provides support for the Polish-led multinational division based south of Baghdad.
Bush said he discussed the prospect of additional NATO involvement with his principal ally in the Iraq war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, over breakfast at the summit. (Full story)
Pipeline attacks continue
Suspected insurgents attacked the main Kirkuk-Turkey oil pipeline Wednesday, sparking a fire that continued to burn through the afternoon, an Iraqi police official said.
The attack occurred 80 kilometers west of Kirkuk, according to Brig. Gen. Torhan Abdul Rahman. The Kirkuk-Turkey pipeline is a major line with a diameter of 40 inches.
"The ICDC [Iraq Civil Defense Corp] and other Iraqi security forces in the north now expect these kind of attacks, especially on the pipelines after the announcement from [interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad] Allawi which said that Iraqi oil will soon be in the hands of Iraqis once again," the Kirkuk police official said.
The explosion was the fourth on oil pipelines in northern Iraq in the past three days. All of the blasts were set by improvised explosive devices.
Other developments
For the first time since it was formed last month, an Iraqi brigade patrolling the Sunni Triangle town of Fallujah was attacked by insurgents, police said. Five mortar rounds were fired at the base of the Fallujah brigade Wednesday morning, wounding nine soldiers. Throughout April, fighting between Marines and insurgents was intense in the town, west of Baghdad. The conflict erupted after the March 31 killing and mutilation of four American private security workers.Two bodyguards of a local Baghdad politician were shot dead Tuesday, according to the Coalition Press Information Center. The politician, a member of the Al Rashid District Advisory Council, was wounded in the attack, carried out by suspected insurgents wielding small arms. The council member, whose identity was not immediately available, suffered wounds to the leg, shoulder and chest. He is in serious but stable condition at a hospital. Suspected guerrillas wounded two civilian contract drivers in a strike on a coalition convoy in eastern Baghdad Wednesday, according to the Coalition Press Information Center.CNN's Guy Raz and journalist Mohammed Sharif in Najaf contributed to this story.
