Over 30 Iraqis killed in latest wave of violence

Over 30 Iraqis were killed in the continuing wave of violence on Sunday as insurgents launched more bomb attacks and US-led coalition forces stepped up their operations against radical Shiite militias.

A huge explosion rocked a crowded market in Al Bayaa district inthe southern suburb of Baghdad early Sunday, killing at least 4civilians and 3 policemen, witnesses said. Thirteen more peoplewere injured in the blast.

The witnesses said a US military convoy had passed nearbyshortly before the explosion.

In the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, US troopsand the Mehdi Army militia of rebel Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadrclashed Sunday, one day after soldiers arrested a top aide to al-Sadr in the district.

Small-arms fire broke out near a police station at an entranceto the sprawling suburb, witnesses said.

Clashes erupted on Saturday between US troops and the militiamenwhen 20 US tanks cordoned off the area around al-Sadr's office anddetained Amer al-Husseini.

Witnesses said the militiamen fired several mortar rounds at agovernment building and crossfired with American soldiers indifferent parts of the neighborhood.

Later, US military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt confirmedthat the US forces killed 19 Iraqi insurgents in four separateincidents in Baghdad.

Kimmitt did not specify the kind of violence in the fourincidents, but said nine others, including three policemen, werealso killed and 17 others were wounded.

In the southern city of Basra, three British soldiers wereinjured in a blast which took place in the city center Sundaymorning, according to a British spokesman.

The spokesman also said that there were another two clashes inthe southern port city, but no considerable casualties were caused.In Najaf, where al-Sadr himself was holed up, a new provincialgovernor appointed by the US-led coalition will reportedly jointribal and religious leaders to seek an end to the confrontation.US civil administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer appointed Adnan al-Zorfi as the new governor of Najaf province Thursday to replace theformer leader who had fled the city to Iran at the beginning of theconflicts last month.

Al-Sadr, wanted by the authorities for the alleged murder ofanother cleric, launched a revolt against US-led forces in Iraq onemonth ago.

In another development, one US soldier was killed and anotherwounded in a mortar attack on a military base in the northern Iraqicity of Mosul on Saturday, a US military statement said on Sunday.Over 760 US soldiers have died since the US-led invasion of Iraqstarted last spring, with over 560 of them killed in combatincidents.

Source: Xinhua