Sporadic gunfire echoed through the center of Karbala early Wednesday after daylong clashes between rival Shiite militias claimed up to 51 lives and forced officials to abort a Shiite religious festival that had drawn up to 1 million pilgrims from around the world. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived early Wednesday to meet with local officials trying to restore order and move the hordes of pilgrims away from the city.
According to the AP, the pilgrims were ordered to leave the area of the shrines, and armored Iraqi army Humvees drove slowly through the largely deserted area during the morning saying over loudspeakers that anyone caught there would be detained.
Security officials said Mahdi Army gunmen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday fired on guards around two shrines protected by the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. Residents of Karbala said snipers were firing on Iraqi security forces from rooftops.
Officials reported 51 dead and 247 injured on Tuesday, but the city council member said Wednesday that 38 had been killed and 231 injured.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said entrances and exits to Karbala "have been secured and more forces are on the way from other provinces." Officials said buses were sent to evacuate pilgrims from the city, which includes some of the world's most sacred Shiite shrines.
Gunfights also broke out Tuesday between Mahdi militiamen and followers of the Supreme Council in at least two Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and in Kut, about 100 miles southeast of the capital, police said.
Extra police took up positions in the center of another Shiite city, Diwaniyah, after gunmen fired on a mosque associated with the Supreme Council, police said. A curfew was clamped on the Shiite city of Najaf after a mortar round exploded on a major square, causing no casualties, officials said.
In Baghdad, a senior government security official blamed the fighting on al-Sadr's followers, saying they provoked the confrontations and were responsible for the shooting. But a spokesman for al-Sadr, Ahmed al-Shaibani, denied that the Mahdi Army was involved in the Karbala fighting.
Meanwhile, American forces freed seven Iranians early Wednesday, hours after detaining them at a central Baghdad hotel, an Iranian embassy official said. The Iranian diplomat told The Associated Press that one of those released contacted the embassy Wednesday morning to say that they have been handed over to Iraqi authorities.
American troops raided Baghdad's Sheraton Ishtar hotel and took away a group of about 10 people late Tuesday. The diplomat said the seven Iranians included an embassy staffer and six members of a delegation from Iran's Electricity Ministry.
"At 7 a.m. today, a member of the delegation called the embassy and said they are now at the prime minister's office," the diplomat said. "The Americans released them. They held them until seven this morning."
The U.S. military confirmed that it had taken "some individuals ... identified as being Iranian citizens with Iranian passports" into custody on Tuesday, but said they were apprehended at a checkpoint nearby the Sheraton hotel during a routine stop.
The others involved were "Iraqi escorts who identified themselves with Iraqi Ministry of Electricity badges," the military said. Several of the men were observed to have weapons in their cars, none of them had the appropriate permits, so all were detained, the military said.
On Tuesday, President Bush lashed out at Iran for meddling in Iraq's affairs and fomenting instability in its neighbor. "I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities," said Bush, whose administration has accused Iran of arming Shiite militias in Iraq. "The Iranian regime must halt these actions."
