BEHIND the defiant rhetoric of Mahdi Army commanders, the reality in Najaf is that the number of Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr’s guerrillas visible on the ground has fallen noticeably in the past three days, which saw heavy bombing of their positions by American warplanes and ground artillery.
On a visit to the front lines yesterday, The Times saw large clusters of fighters armed with belt-fed machineguns, grenades and Kalashnikovs stationed at every entrance to the old city — which houses the golden-domed shrine to Imam Ali — and at numerous ambush points within.
But their numbers and weaponry were considerably depleted from two weeks or even a few days ago.
The fighters may have been killed, rested or redeployed elsewhere in the town or to other troublespots such as Kufa or al-Amara. But with Iyad Allawi, the Iraqi Prime Minister, announcing recently the death penalty for insurgents, many may have calculated that it is better to regroup and fight another day.
No Mahdi supporter would would accept such observations — even to discuss them would leave journalists open to accusations of peddling American propaganda, or physical attack — but many Najaf residents, who were mostly delighted to see some signs of life returning to parts of the city yesterday, confirmed that they have seen the Mahdi fighters slipping away.
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“About 600 have left, mostly yesterday and the day before. Not all together, but in groups,” Abu Allawi, who lives near the southern front line, said. “Many of them have deserted. I saw a whole bunch of them walking away this morning,” Abu Ali, a father who was departing the debris-strewn streets, said.
Early this morning, explosions and gunfire shook Najaf’s old city as a fierce battle erupted between US forces and and Shia militants.
US warplanes, including AC-130 gunships and helicopters, attacked for the second night with bombs and gunfire, witnesses said. Militant leaders said that the outer walls of the Imam Ali shrine’s compound were damaged in the attacks, but the US military denied the claim.
The hundreds of Mahdi fighters who vowed to remain sought consolation yesterday in excited talk of divine intervention to protect them from the withering air and land assault that has rained bricks, debris and shrapnel upon them.
“I saw an aeroplane rocket heading straight for the dome of the shrine. The missile was over the building when it suddenly changed direction. We all saw it,” Abdul Zahra said.
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“Without the Imam Ali protecting us, we would all be dead by now. The Imam and Allah have turned away all the shrapnel.”
Despite their bravado, the number of unarmed pro-al-Sadr “human shields” inside the shrine itself is also significantly lower than it was.
In a telling but utterly incongruous insight into priorities in the midst of a war, one human shield’s first demand was for the result of Iraq’s Olympic Games football victory over Australia on Saturday night.
“Please tell us the score,” shouted Haider, from Baghdad’s Sadr City slum. “One-nil. We qualified,” The Times translator replied.
“We’re in the semi-final,” they rejoiced. “Some of the fighters were watching the match on the television and generator but we couldn’t because they locked the door.”
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The townspeople of Najaf have suffered heavily.
Since fighting began on August 5, Najaf’s general hospital has reported 52 deaths and 223 wounded and doctors at the shrine’s makeshift clinic claim 71 deaths. This contrasts starkly with US claims of several hundred fighters killed.
Yesterday The Times saw the body of a man lying ripped apart in al-Kawarnak Street, the last crossing point into the old city. Nearby lay the carcass of a dog.
The heaviest fighting has switched from the cemetery north of the old city to the residential streets south of it in recent days. “Last night was really bad. It was all warplanes, no tanks at all,” one local said.
In these bombed-out streets, the detritus of war gives clues to a change in US military tactics.
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Whereas shrapnel previously comprised heavy machinegun rounds or helicopter missile tailfins, now it is casings from handheld weapons and yellow smoke canisters, indicating that American ground troops are moving through and clearing streets one by one.
Certainly they are confident that they have removed Mahdi fighters from all but a few blocks nearest the old city.
“Everything south of here is clear,” one tobacco-chewing Humvee top gunner grinned, his vehicle bearing the warning — in Arabic — “Stay 25 metres away”.
As the fighting continued last night, there was deadlock in talks between the Mahdi Army and aides to the senior Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani over handing over the keys of the shrine.
Hojatoleslam al-Sadr’s supporters say they are ready to deliver the keys to the Shia religious authority known as the hawza, but insist that first there must be an inventory of all the gold and precious items inside so that they cannot be accused of theft. The hawza have reportedly refused to send representatives, citing fears for their safety.
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But Hojatoleslam al-Sadr’s supporters also insist that they will continue to fight. “After handing over the shrine, the Mahdi Army will be deployed outside the city and we will continue our resistance against the occupation,” Sheikh Ahmed Shaibani, said.