Iraqi rebels shoot down chopper in Najaf

The city is home to the holiest shrines in Shi’ite Islam, and most Iraqi Shi’ites reacted with outrage when clashes erupt near the sacred sites.

Iraq’s Health Ministry said at least two people were killed in the fighting and eight wounded. One person was also killed and four wounded when a mortar round hit a hospital in the city.

The US Military said fighting began overnight when a police station was attacked by ‘‘a significant number of aggressors’’ believed to be members of the Mehdi Army. The statement said the attackers used heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms in an assault on the police station yesterday. ‘‘Iraqi National Guardsmen quickly reinforced Iraqi police, and the two units successfully defended the station from the attackers. Upon arrival of the marines, Mehdi Army members withdrew into the city’s exclusion zone,’’ the military said. ‘‘The attack is an overt violation of the ceasefire agreement reached in June between coalition forces and Moqtada Sadr.’’

But Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Sudani, a spokesman for Al-Sadr, said US forces and Iraqi police had attacked first.

As part of the truce agreed in June to end Al-Sadr’s uprising, US troops said they would not enter parts of Najaf. The US 1st Infantry Division, which had been in charge of security in the area, has recently been replaced by a force of marines.

Meanwhile, in Mahawil, south of Baghdad, guerrillas detonated a car bomb and sprayed gunfire at a police station, killing at least six people and wounding 24, Iraqi government officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said three masked gunmen opened fire on the police station in the town and then fled. A bomb in a minibus then exploded outside the building. Kadhim said two senior police officers were also shot dead today in the town of Musayyib, near Mahawil.

Police and Iraqi National Guardsmen have been frequent targets of bomb attacks by guerrillas opposed to the US-backed government and the presence of US-led troops in Iraq.

Yesterday, guerrillas fought street battles with police in the northern city of Mosul after launching attacks on a police station, a power plant and a hospital. The US Military said in a statement that eight insurgents were killed during about three hours of clashes, but more than 14 civilians had also been killed and 31 wounded. Last Sunday, a suicide car bomb attack on a police station in Mosul killed five people. —(Reuters)