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The_Red_Crayon
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US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect.
#6505224 - 01/28/07 02:57 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/1/29/worldupdates/2007-01-29T020738Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-285306-5&sec=Worldupdates
U.S., Iraqi forces kill 250 militants in Najaf
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed some 250 gunmen from an apocalyptic Muslim cult on Sunday in a battle involving U.S. tanks and aircraft near the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, Iraqi police, army and political sources said.
Two Americans were killed, the U.S. military said, when an attack helicopter went down during the day-long battle in what was one of the strangest incidents of the four-year conflict. Iraqi officials said the helicopter seemed to be shot down.
According to one Iraqi political source, hundreds of fighters drawn from both Sunni and Shi'ite communities were still fighting. A Reuters reporter at the scene, 160 km south of Baghdad, saw U.S. tanks and heard blasts after dark and an Iraqi officer said F-16 jets were bombing the area.
Details of the day's fighting were sketchy and the origins of the fighters unclear. An Iraqi army source said some of the dead wore headbands declaring themselves a "Soldier of Heaven".
The governor of Najaf province said the group had gathered in orchards near the city and had been planning to attack the main Shi'ite clerical leadership on Monday. It is the climax of the annual Shi'ite rite of Ashura, marking a 7th century battle which entrenched the schism between Shi'ite and Sunni Islam.
Earlier, the governor described the fighters as Sunnis, the majority in the Arab world and the once dominant minority in Iraq, where Shi'ites have been in the ascendant since the U.S. invasion of 2003. The two sects are embroiled in conflict that many fear is descending into all-out civil war.
But political and security sources said they were followers of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni and described him as an apocalyptic cult leader claiming to be the vanguard of the Mahdi -- a messiah-like figure in Islam whose coming heralds the start of perfect world justice. He had been operating from an office in Najaf until it was raided and closed down about 10 days ago.
CULTS
Similar violent cults have been a feature of Islamic history. They have declared temporal Muslim leaders illegitimate infidels and have drawn followers from both Sunni and Shi'ite believers, proclaiming a unity of inspiration from Mohammad.
Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims were gathering in the holy city of Kerbala, between Najaf and Baghdad, to mark Ashura -- the death of Mohammad's grandson Hussein in the Battle of Kerbala in 680, which confirmed the split in Islam between supporters of rival claimants to the Prophet's inheritance.
In Baghdad, 13 people were killed in bombings in mainly Shi'ite areas, police said. In a Sunni area, five girls were killed when a mortar struck their school yard.
Twin car bombs targeting ethnic Kurds killed 16 people as night fell in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, whose population is a volatile mix of Kurds, Turkmen and Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs.
Najaf governor Asaad Abu Gilel told Reuters the authorities had uncovered a plot to kill some of the clerics on Monday, to coincide with the climax of Ashura: "There is a conspiracy to kill the clergy on the 10th day of Muharram," he said, referring to Monday by the Muslim calendar.
The Reuters reporter about 1.5 km from the fighting said he heard intense gunfire and saw U.S. helicopters rocket groves sheltering militants. He saw smoke trailing from one helicopter before it came down in the midst of the fighting.
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Syle
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. *DELETED* [Re: The_Red_Crayon]
#6512031 - 01/30/07 11:34 AM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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Post deleted by RedstormReason for deletion: off-topic
-------------------- https://kenaisigh.bandcamp.com/ <- Just completed the 2021 RPM challenge for February - An EP in one month (5 songs or 20 minutes). Check it out!
Edited by Redstorm (01/30/07 02:04 PM)
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The_Red_Crayon
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Syle]
#6512086 - 01/30/07 11:57 AM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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off-topic
Edited by Redstorm (01/30/07 02:04 PM)
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Syle
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: The_Red_Crayon]
#6512091 - 01/30/07 11:59 AM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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off-topic
-------------------- https://kenaisigh.bandcamp.com/ <- Just completed the 2021 RPM challenge for February - An EP in one month (5 songs or 20 minutes). Check it out!
Edited by Redstorm (01/30/07 02:05 PM)
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The_Red_Crayon
Exposer of Truth
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Syle]
#6512111 - 01/30/07 12:06 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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off-topic
Edited by Redstorm (01/30/07 02:05 PM)
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Syle]
#6512120 - 01/30/07 12:10 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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If you're not going to debate the topic at hand, I'm going to have to ask you to stop posting in this thread.
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Syle
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: The_Red_Crayon]
#6512121 - 01/30/07 12:10 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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off-topic
-------------------- https://kenaisigh.bandcamp.com/ <- Just completed the 2021 RPM challenge for February - An EP in one month (5 songs or 20 minutes). Check it out!
Edited by Redstorm (01/30/07 02:05 PM)
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Syle
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Syle]
#6512123 - 01/30/07 12:10 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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okay, i'll stop.
-------------------- https://kenaisigh.bandcamp.com/ <- Just completed the 2021 RPM challenge for February - An EP in one month (5 songs or 20 minutes). Check it out!
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The_Red_Crayon
Exposer of Truth
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Redstorm]
#6512131 - 01/30/07 12:12 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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you can close the thread if you'd like
Edited by The_Red_Crayon (01/30/07 01:31 PM)
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Luddite
I watch Fox News
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: The_Red_Crayon]
#6513155 - 01/30/07 04:54 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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I read about this in the newspaper earlier today. Most news articles say it was a Shiite cult that targeted other Shiite pilgrams to force the return of the Madhi (Shiite messianic figure). Some news articles said the cult leader believed he was the Madhi.
http://news.google.com/news?q=shiite+cult+najaf&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title
Check out all the blood http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Ashura&sa=N&tab=ni
Edited by Luddite (01/30/07 04:59 PM)
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zappaisgod
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Luddite]
#6513260 - 01/30/07 05:15 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
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The NY Times is reporting that the Iraqis are claiming 460 dead assholes
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The_Red_Crayon
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: zappaisgod]
#6513883 - 01/30/07 07:30 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
zappaisgod said: The NY Times is reporting that the Iraqis are claiming 460 dead assholes
The plot thickens. Pretty massive battle if you ask me, i havent seen this many people killed in Iraq in a single fight since Sadr and his goons had a uprising, bad month for the coalition thats certain.
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Phred
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: The_Red_Crayon]
#6515544 - 01/31/07 08:42 AM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
bad month for the coalition thats certain.
How can you spin the elimination of 250 to 460 bad guys into a bad thing for the coalition?
Phred
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GazzBut
Refraction
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Phred]
#6516665 - 01/31/07 02:28 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
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-------------------- Always Smi2le
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The_Red_Crayon
Exposer of Truth
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Phred]
#6516808 - 01/31/07 03:10 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Phred said:
Quote:
bad month for the coalition thats certain.
How can you spin the elimination of 250 to 460 bad guys into a bad thing for the coalition?
Phred
Sorry i wasnt very specific, What i meant was around april 2004 when sadr and his goons were hold up in the imam ali mosque.
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The_Red_Crayon
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: Phred]
#6516866 - 01/31/07 03:27 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Phred said:
Quote:
bad month for the coalition thats certain.
How can you spin the elimination of 250 to 460 bad guys into a bad thing for the coalition?
Phred
Well its bad for the fact that almost 800 cultists can prepare for months and obtain weapons and unleash a massive attack, these people were sloppy and they were figured out, and when they went to attack Shiia pilgrims for Ashoura they were met by over 1000 iraqi and us troops plus helicopter gunships, they managed to shoot down a helicopter.
3 days before that a official that blackwater was protecting came under attack and when they called in for relief they were ambushed as well, they managed to lose a helicopter and another died on the a helicopter, and 2 days before that a blackhawk was shot down and killed 12 men, including 6 high ranking military officers.
I'd say its been a tough year for coalition forces, especially with the loss of a billion dollar amounts of equipment, and the opening rift between Shiia-Sunni.
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Luddite
I watch Fox News
Registered: 03/23/06
Posts: 2,946
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Re: US and Iraqi forces claim to kill 250 militants of apocalyptic sect. [Re: The_Red_Crayon]
#6517242 - 01/31/07 05:40 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
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What a death cult.
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