A U.S. helicopter fired flares on a crowd on a square in eastern Baghdad

[NNN0LHI]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=ILKAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Bomber Kills 10 in Hit on Iraqi Police

BAGHDAD (AP) -- A suicide truck bomber struck an Iraqi police agency in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 10 people, police said. A U.S. helicopter fired flares on a crowd on a square in eastern Baghdad, hours after clashes between American troops and Shiite militia that left at least five people dead, but the military said it was part of an automatic self-defense system.

Fighting broke out in the predominantly Shiite Fidhiliyah area on the Baghdad's outskirts late Friday after a U.S. military convoy came under attack outside the local offices of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric whose Mahdi Army militia has recently stepped up attacks on American troops.

The U.S. military said an American patrol called for air and ground support after it came under attack by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades fired from the al-Sadr office. Spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said no Americans were killed or wounded, but he did not have immediate information on Iraqi casualties. "We're still looking into the incident," he said.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Hilfi, an al-Sadr representative from the office, said the clashes broke out after a raid on the office, which doubles as a mosque. The military did not confirm the raid.

Associated Press Television video footage shot early Sunday showed a low-flying Apache helicopter firing flares as several hundred people, including teenagers and children, gathered around a devastated Humvee below.

[maddezmom]

1. earlier CNN's website said they had dropped tear gas

Iraqi Gov.: Violence escalates during 5-hour U.S. military raid
Edited on Sun Jun-10-07 04:21 AM by maddezmom
Source: CNN

Iraqi Gov.: Violence escalates during 5-hour U.S. military raid
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- U.S. troops raided an office loosely affiliated with anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political movement in southeastern Baghdad late Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding 19 others, Iraq's Interior Ministry said Sunday.

The operation was launched in al-Fudhailiya, a Shiite district in the capital, and lasted from 10 p.m. Saturday (2 p.m. Saturday ET) until 3 a.m. Sunday (7 p.m. Saturday ET), an official within the ministry told CNN.

As the raid was underway, the official said U.S. forces opened fire on a civilian car that was approaching the office. One person was killed and four others were wounded.

Violence escalated when area residents began firing on U.S. soldiers, which sparked clashes between the military and unknown assailants, the official said.

The U.S. military told CNN clashes between gunmen and U.S. soldiers ensued and U.S. helicopters dropped tear gas into the crowd.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2875583&mesg_id=2875583

But looks like that comment has been scrubbed

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. "Let Freedom Reign!"