Fighting in Baghdad suburb and Kut

(12 Aug 2004)

APTN
Sha'ab district, Baghdad - 12 August 2004
1. Pan over militias, fire on street
2. Gunman leaning on automatic weapon
3. Gunman holding rocket launcher
4. Pan over militiamen in cars
5. Wide shot gunmen running from fighting as ordinance explodes at their feet pan to gunmen firing
6. Mid shot gunmen running and firing
7. Militia by car firing weapons
8. Militia's vehicle driving away, audio gunfire

APTN
Jamila district, Baghdad - 12 August 2004
9. Mid shot of armed militants with rocket-propelled grenades sitting in back of pickup
10. Pick up drives off
11. Militant prepares rocket on stand
12. Rocket fired, audio of rocket fired
13. A second rocket fired, audio of rocket fired
14. Group of militants with AK47s on street corner
15. Mid shot of militant with rocket launcher
16. Militants on street corner

Amateur Video
Unknown location
17. UPSOUND (Arabic) Group of masked armed militants

Kut - 11 August 2004
17. Plume of thick smoke rising from Balda police station, in city centre
18. Fire in ammunition store
19. Various audible gunfire from fire in store

Kut - August 12, 2004
20. Exterior of mosque
21. Medium shot of the mosque, damaged door
22. Various damage inside the mosque
23. Wide shot of destroyed car with damaged house
24. Woman crying
25. Blood stain on the ground
26. Destroyed car with extensive damage to a house

STORYLINE:

Shia militants operating in the Sha'ab area of eastern Baghdad, fired AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades during continuous fighting on Thursday.

The skirmishes formed part of the ongoing violence which have gripped some parts of the Iraqi capital for more than a week.

In the neighbouring Sadr City area, fighting continued into early Thursday morning.

Many Shiites have been outraged by fighting in the holy city of Najaf where militiamen have been battling against coalition forces for a week.

The conflict spread to other parts of the capital.

In the Jamila district of Baghdad, Shiite militants prepared and fired rockets against US and Iraqi police forces.

The militants have used mortars and rockets to target ministries and other government installations in recent weeks.

Also included on lists of targets have been Iraqi police stations and military sites as well as the Green Zone government compound.

In a video received anonymously by APTN, a group calling themselves the al-Hussein Brigade -- after the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed -- swore to defend the holy shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf against US forces currently surrounding the town.

Thousands of US troops and Iraqi soldiers launched a major assault on Thursday on militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in Najaf.

Explosions and gunfire echoed near the holy city's revered Imam Ali shrine and its vast cemetery.

In the southern Iraqi city of Kut, attacks by insurgents and Mahdi militants on government buildings and police stations have killed at least 70 people over the past week, all of them Iraqi, officials said.

Iraqi forces fought off militants who targeted the city hall, police stations and Iraqi National Guard barracks, the US military said.

There were casualties on both sides, and official figures varied.

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