MetalBoy
05-23-2004, 03:33 AM
KUFA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. soldiers killed 16 suspected insurgents early Sunday and found a large cache of weapons at a mosque during an operation in the city of Kufa, a stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia, military officials said.
Preceded by a heavy artillery barrage, more than 20 tanks, armored personnel carriers and about 600 troops entered the darkened city in south-central Iraq after leaving their base in nearby Najaf late Saturday.
The soldiers left just before dawn, a few hours after they entered the city.
CNN's Jane Arraf, reporting from an armored personnel carrier of the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, described the sound of the vehicles rolling through the streets as "intimidating."
Four suspected insurgents were killed on the grounds of the mosque and the others were killed outside the walls, officials said. A tank broke down the mosque's door.
Aided by Iraqi civil defense forces, troops found AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition, officials said. Some of the weapons were stashed in the minaret.
The soldiers had taken fire from the mosque in previous operations. It is not the city's main mosque. Soldiers also searched several schools but found nothing.
The operation marked the first time U.S. troops had entered Kufa since the insurgency began several weeks ago.
Officials said it was not aimed at capturing al-Sadr but at denying the Mehdi Army a safe haven in Kufa.
The operation lasted only a few hours, and the soldiers were gone before dawn. Officials said they planned to send in personnel later to explain the operation to residents and to repair any damage to buildings.
Another weapons search took place Sunday across the Euphrates River to the east, at a palace that once belonged to deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Preceded by a heavy artillery barrage, more than 20 tanks, armored personnel carriers and about 600 troops entered the darkened city in south-central Iraq after leaving their base in nearby Najaf late Saturday.
The soldiers left just before dawn, a few hours after they entered the city.
CNN's Jane Arraf, reporting from an armored personnel carrier of the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, described the sound of the vehicles rolling through the streets as "intimidating."
Four suspected insurgents were killed on the grounds of the mosque and the others were killed outside the walls, officials said. A tank broke down the mosque's door.
Aided by Iraqi civil defense forces, troops found AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition, officials said. Some of the weapons were stashed in the minaret.
The soldiers had taken fire from the mosque in previous operations. It is not the city's main mosque. Soldiers also searched several schools but found nothing.
The operation marked the first time U.S. troops had entered Kufa since the insurgency began several weeks ago.
Officials said it was not aimed at capturing al-Sadr but at denying the Mehdi Army a safe haven in Kufa.
The operation lasted only a few hours, and the soldiers were gone before dawn. Officials said they planned to send in personnel later to explain the operation to residents and to repair any damage to buildings.
Another weapons search took place Sunday across the Euphrates River to the east, at a palace that once belonged to deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.