U.S. Forces Advance Toward Najaf Shrine
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NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. forces Monday drew near Najaf's revered Shiite shrine, engaging in fierce battles with followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as the military stepped up pressure on the insurgents to hand over the holy site to religious authorities...
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Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani plans to lead a march to the shrine in Najaf that has been commandeered by rebel Mahdi fighters.
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US forces and Shiite militants fought fierce battles Monday marked by explosions and gunfire near a revered shrine in Najaf, as the US military stepped up pressure on the insurgents to quickly hand over the holy site to Shiite religious authorities.
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NAJAF, Iraq -- A Shi'ite Muslim insurgency appeared to be weakening last night as Iraqi forces moved to within 200 yards of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and Iraq's defense minister once again demanded fighters loyal to a radical cleric surrender or face a violent raid.
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Fears of heavier fighting in Najaf grew on Wednesday after an Iraqi peace delegation failed to defuse a confrontation between U.S. troops and militiamen holed up in a revered shrine in the city.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - A U.S. military aircraft and ground  artillery launched several strikes on suspected Shi'ite  militant positions in the besieged southern city of Najaf late  Monday, Reuters witnesses said.
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NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. tanks and troops rolled back into the center of Najaf and battled with Shiite militants Sunday, reigniting violence in the holy city just as delegates in Baghdad opened a conference meant to be a landmark in the country's movement toward democracy...
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Combat resumed in Najaf yesterday, as US forces edged into the narrow streets surrounding the shrine of Imam Ali and militiamen fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades from around the holy site that serves as their firebase.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Fighters loyal to Iraqi cleric  Moqtada al-Sadr retained their grip on the Imam Ali shrine in  Najaf on Saturday, dampening hopes that talks with religious  authorities would quickly end a two-week siege.
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Iraqi security forces have advanced to within 400 metres (yards) of Najaf&#39;s Imam Ali shrine on Tuesday, a Reuters witness says.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - U.S. warplanes, artillery and  marines engaged Shi'ite militiamen in a fierce battle around a  shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Monday in some of the  heaviest fighting since the 20-day-old rebellion erupted.
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With talks aimed at ending the siege of the Imam Ali mosque stalled, U.S. forces appeared to have tightened their noose around Najaf.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - U.S. aircraft launched a fresh  assault on Shi'ite rebels in the embattled Iraqi city of Najaf  early Sunday after talks on transferring control of the mosque  at the center of a two-week siege ran into trouble.
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US and Iraqi forces battled militants in Najaf on Tuesday and Iraqi National Guardsmen advanced to within 200 yards of the holy city&#39;s Imam Ali Shrine compound, where insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been holed up for weeks.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Iraqi security forces moved to  within 400 yards of a holy shrine in Najaf on Tuesday, just  hours after the government warned Shi'ite rebels inside they  would be killed if they did not surrender.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - U.S. helicopter gunships pounded  Shi'ite militias in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf on Sunday as  tanks rumbled to within 800 meters (yards) of a besieged shrine  at the center of a near three-week insurgency.
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NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces battled militants in Najaf on Tuesday and Iraqi National Guardsmen surrounded the holy city's Imam Ali Shrine, where insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been holed up for weeks...