Mortars, Military In Mahmoudiya (by BigBadJohnny)

U.S. soldiers patrol in Mahmoudiya (this earlier photo of American soldiers in Mahmoudiya may not be directly related to the current incident which involved Shiites and Sunnis)

The Civil War between Shiite and Sunni Muslim factions in Iraq has escalated to a new level. This attack involved neither car bombs, nor suicide squads, but rather mortars and soldiers with military rifles.

by ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Dozens of heavily armed attackers raided an open air market Monday in a tense town south of Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding about 90, Iraqi and U.S. officials said. Some reports put the death toll far higher. Most of the victims were believed to be Shiites.

Monday's attack in Mahmoudiya began about 9 a.m. with a brief mortar barrage, followed by an armed assault by dozens of gunmen. They killed three Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint, then stormed the market, firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, police Capt. Rashid al-Samaraie said.

The attack also sent shock waves through Mahmoudiya, an agricultural center with Shiites living in the town center and Sunnis in the outlying neighborhoods. Frantic relatives milled about the hospital, scuffling with guards and Iraqi soldiers who tried to keep order.
"You are strong men only when you face us, but you let them do what they did to us," one man shouted at a guard.

Some of the victims were transported to hospitals in Baghdad, where a Shiite television station, Al-Forat, put the death toll at 72. Al-Forat aired quotes from Shiites blaming the attack on Sunni religious extremists and expressing outrage over the failure of mainstream Sunni politicians to stop them.
Police said most of the victims were Shiites, and it appeared the raid was part of the escalating campaign of tit-for-tat sectarian killings that have plunged the country to the brink of civil war.

The main Sunni bloc in parliament said the attack may have been in retaliation for the kidnapping of seven Sunnis, whose bodies were found Sunday in Mahmoudiya. The bloc accused Iraqi security forces, dominated by Shiites, for failing to control the situation.

an earlier photo from Mahmoudiya

Mahmoudiya is the same town in Iraq where U.S. soldiers were charged in the death of an Iraqi woman and her family members:

July 10, 2006
Jacob Cherian - News Staff Writer
Tikrit, Iraq (AHN) - Four more U.S. soldiers have been charged with rape and murder. A fifth troop has been accused of dereliction of duty in the alleged rape/murder of an Iraqi woman and the death of her family members in Mahmoudiya, Iraq.
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