At least 200 militants killed in Iraq battle

NAJAF: At least 200 Shiite militants allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda were killed in a fierce battle with Iraqi and US forces near the Shiite holy city of Najaf, officials said on Monday.   

An Iraqi official said the militants, said to belong to a sect calling itself "Soldiers of Heaven" planned to carry out attacks on Shiite clerics and seize control of holy cities.   

Iraq was also rocked by a spate of attacks on Monday that left 22 people dead as Shiite pilgrims prepared to mark the mourning rite of Ashura, the most sacred ceremony on their religious calendar.   

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said among those killed in the Najaf battle was the sect leader who reportedly claimed to be a lieutenant of Imam Mahdi, a ninth century Shiite spiritual leader who vanished as a boy and is expected to return to earth just before the end of time.   

US aircraft backing the Iraqi troops bombed militant positions, leaving between 200 and 300 dead in one of the biggest battles in recent months, according to various tolls given by officials.   

Defence minister spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said 200 were killed and 120 arrested while Najaf government spokesman Ahmed Duaible said around 300 militants had been killed and 13 arrested.   

"The body of the leader of the organisation was found and identified by some of his captured fighters," a source in the Najaf governorate said.   

He was variously identifed as Iraqi national Samer Abu Kamar, Ali bin Ali bin Abi Talib, or Ahmed bin al-Hassan, nicknamed Al-Yamani, and one official said he may be of Lebanese origin.   

Police in Najaf said he established his cult after buying eight farms in Zarqa two years ago. Askari said security forces had also confiscated 500 weapons and 11 mortar tubes along with pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns and documents.   

Abdel Hussein Attan, deputy governor of Najaf, said the slain militants were linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.   

"I have come to the total conviction from what I have seen with my own eyes on the ground that Al-Qaeda is behind this group," Attan said.   

"Based on the confessions of interrogated militants and other information, this well-structured group intended to attack Shiite clerics and take control of Najaf and its holy sites," he added.   

"It appears to be a Shiite group but its deep-rooted conviction is different."   

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is made up of Sunni extremists who profess an extreme hatred of Shiites, whom they consider heretics.   

Dabbagh said the group appeared to have both "Internal and external terror links, adding: "The quantity of weapons they had indicated a considerable amount of support."   

On Sunday, a US helicopter crashed in the area where the fight occurred, killing two crewmen, the military said, without specifying whether it had been shot down. Dubaile said three policemen were also killed and 30 wounded in the firefight. The battle erupted as tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from across Iraq and neighbouring countries flocked to Karbala for the Ashura mourning ritual.   

Ashura, a commemoration of the seventh-century slaying of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein on the orders of Sunni caliph Yazid, culminates on Tuesday in Karbala where Hussein was decapitated.   

Every year men, women and children dressed in black and carrying flags attend the annual rite in Karbala, which also marks the definitive schism between Shiite and Sunni Islam.   

The ceremony has become a target of Sunni insurgents in past years and security forces have stepped up measures to thwart any possible assault on the pilgrims.   

About 10,000 Iraqi security personnel will stand guard in and around the city of Karbala to protect the pilgrims paying homage at the tomb of Hussein.   

On Monday, at least 22 people were killed in a wave of bomb and shooting attacks in Baghdad, including four who died when their minibus was blown up, security officials said.   

Meanwhile, British Defence Secretary Des Browne met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and held talks focused on a possible transfer of security in the southern province of Basra from British troops to Iraqi forces.