Iraq attacks kill seven civilians

BAGHDAD – Suspected Shiite militiamen fired mortars at two military bases and shot at a Polish helicopter south of Baghdad during clashes Monday that killed as many as five civilians, including two children, and wounded 20, officials said.

Two Polish soldiers suffered minor injuries in the clashes in Diwaniyah, a mainly Shiite city 80 miles south of Baghdad, the Polish Defense Ministry said.

In Baghdad, a parked car bomb exploded near an amusement park in the evening, killing at least six and wounding 25, as families were going home after relaxing on a Muslim holiday, police said. Casualties included women and youths.

The fighting in Diwaniyah began when fighters from the Mahdi Army militia fired four mortar rounds at the main U.S. and Polish base and nine rounds at a patrol base manned mainly by Iraqis and Polish troops, an Iraqi military official said.

U.S.-led forces fired back with six or seven artillery rounds, and both sides traded small-arms fire, the official said. A curfew has been imposed on four districts in the city known to be dominated by the Mahdi Army.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information, said three Iraqi civilians were killed and 21 wounded in the crossfire.

A policeman, who also declined to be identified because of security concerns, said Mahdi Army fighters emerged from alleys after the mortar attack and swarmed the smaller base, which had been set up in a youth center, prompting clashes that lasted about 30 minutes. He also said U.S. attack helicopters had opened fire. The U.S. military said it was looking into the report.

The officer said five Iraqi civilians were killed and 27 wounded, while the Polish Defense Ministry put the casualty toll at four Iraqi civilians killed and 17 wounded. The conflicting casualty reports could not be reconciled.

Lt. Col. Wlodzimierz Glogowski, spokesman for the Polish force in Diwaniyah, said a Polish helicopter came under machine-gun fire and two Polish soldiers had been slightly wounded.

He said Polish and Iraqi troops at the patrol base had fired back at the militants, but the civilian casualties were from the mortar fire.

Diwaniyah has recently been the scene of frequent clashes between rival Shiite factions competing for influence in the oil-rich southern region. The rivalries and violence are threatening to destabilize the region and overshadow progress U.S. forces have made against al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists.

Roadside bombs killed two southern provincial governors in August, including the governor of the Qadisiyah province of which Diwaniyah is the capital. More than 50 people also were killed in clashes during a major Shiite pilgrimage in the holy city of Karbala.