Resurgence of violence ends calm in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ambushed an Iraqi patrol in an eastern Baghdad slum Sunday, and U.S. forces joined the 90-minute battle, killing as many as eight attackers in the first significant violence in the neighborhood in nearly a year.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, armed men pulled off a daring armored car robbery, killing two guards and escaping with $850,000, and a suicide car bomber slammed into a convoy carrying Interior Ministry commandos, killing seven of them and two civilians.

South of the capital, two separate bicycle bombings in town markets killed at least seven people and wounded dozens.

The ominous resurgence of violence in the poor Sadr City region began about 1:30 a.m. when an Iraqi patrol searching for three insurgents came under attack. U.S. forces in the neighborhood joined the battle and reported killing between five and eight of the attackers. Iraqi police said eight were killed.

"I am concerned about the events early this morning, but I do not believe this action reflects a pattern of change leading to more violence," said Col. Joseph DiSalvo, commander of U.S. forces in east Baghdad.

Al-Sadr's militia, the al-Mahdi Army, was a repeated problem for American forces until a truce was negotiated about a year ago that allowed some U.S. troops to pull out of Sadr City to join the November assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, west of the capital.

Before the truce, al-Sadr's forces had led unsuccessful but bloody uprisings against coalition forces in Kut and the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, all south of Baghdad.

With a referendum on Iraq's new constitution less than three weeks away, violence in the poor Shiite district could deepen opposition among al-Sadr's supporters who are bucking mainstream Shiite support for the constitution.

Shiite unity has been seen as critical for passage of the basic law, which minority Sunni Muslims by and large oppose.

A statement read to reporters by an official with al-Sadr's office, accused U.S. forces of trying to draw them into a battle "aimed at destroying Iraqi towns, particularly those in pro-Sadr areas and .... to prevent al-Sadr followers from voting" in the referendum.