Violent Disturbances Rack Iraq From Baghdad to Southern Cities

By day's end, witnesses said Shiite militiamen controlled the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, with armed men loyal to a radical cleric occupying the town's police stations and checkpoints.

More than eight people were killed by Spanish forces in a similar uprising in the neighboring town of Najaf.

In the southern city of Nasiriyah, Italian troops exchanged fire with militiamen, and one Italian officer was wounded in the leg, Lt. Col. Pierluigi Monteduro, chief of staff of the Italian troops in the region, told The Associated Press.
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In Baghdad, American tanks battled militiamen loyal to Mr. Sadr, killing at least one Iraqi and wounding many, Reuters reported.

At nightfall today, the Sadr City neighborhood shook with explosions and tank and machine gun fire. Black smoke choked the sky. The streets were lined with armed militiamen, dressed in all black. American tanks surrounded the area. Attack helicopters thundered overhead.

"The occupation is over!" people on the streets yelled. "We are now controlled by Sadr. The Americans should stay out."

Witnesses said Mr. Sadr's militiamen had tried to take over three police stations in Sadr City, a poor, mostly Shiite neighborhood of northern Baghdad named after Mr. Sadr's father.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/international/middleeast/04CND-IRAQ.html?ex=1081742400&en=8a4fac93536c39a5&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE