Rival Shiite factions clash in Iraq
By Karl Vick and Vernon Loeb
THE WASHINGTON POST
KARBALA, Iraq, Oct. 14 — Rival Shiite Muslim groups exchanged gunfire overnight in this Shiite holy city, the first serious armed clash between Shiite factions since the Iraq war, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq warned Tuesday that American forces may soon have to move against one of the factions.
LT. GEN. RICARDO S. Sanchez said armed followers of Moqtada Sadr, a young Shiite cleric who has loudly opposed the presence of foreign troops in Iraq, have been regarded for months as an evolving threat to U.S.-led forces. Last week, in what American commanders described as an ambush, Sadr’s Imam Mehdi Army battled a U.S. patrol in Baghdad, killing two American soldiers.
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