US Enters Kufa, Kills At Least 17 Iraqis

by repost

Sat, May 22, 2004 4:33PM

KUFA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. soldiers killed 17 suspected insurgents early Sunday and found a large cache of weapons at a mosque during an operation in the city of Kufa, a stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia, military officials said.

Preceded by a heavy artillery barrage, more than 20 tanks, armored personnel carriers and hundreds of troops entered the darkened city after leaving their base in nearby Najaf late Saturday.

The soldiers were aided in their search of the mosque by Iraqi civil defense forces, the military said.

It marked the first time U.S. troops had entered Kufa since the intense insurgency began.

CNN's Jane Arraf, reporting from an armored personnel carrier, described the sound of the vehicles rolling through the streets as "intimidating."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/22/iraq.main/index.html

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