ARBALA,(Saba Net) - American AC-130 gunships and tanks bombarded militia positions early Friday near two shrines in the holy city of Karbala,
killing 18 fighters loyal to a rebel cleric, while several Iraqis were released from the Abu Ghraib jail at the center of the prisoner abuse
scandal , the U.S. military said.

In Najaf, the main police station was attacked with mortars and small-arms fire around midnight Thursday by suspected members of the Mehdi militia
loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, U.S. military officials said Friday.

The U.S. Army base also came under attack early Friday. Salvadoran troops returned fire.

TD/

SABA