| Insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr downed a U.S. helicopter during fierce clashes Thursday in the holy city of Najaf, and the wounded crew was evacuated. The fighting in Najaf began early in the morning when al-Sadr's Mahdi Army attacked a police station on Revolution of 1920 Square with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles. Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, told the Al-Jazeera satellite channel that the U.S. Marines intervened "to help the policemen protect the police stations and the city." Al-Zurufi said armed militias attacked the police station at about 1:50 a.m. and two people had been killed so far. During the battle, a UH-1 helicopter was hit and crashed. The crew was hurt and evacuated to safety. The Najaf fighting, the fiercest in weeks, threatens a fragile cease-fire between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and U.S. authorities. Al-Zurufi warned of "very bad consequences" if the militiamen did not disarm and leave the holy city. |