{"article":{"id":115792,"heading":"Shi'ite Militia Destroy U.S. Tank in Baghdad","author":"DJ","created":"2004-08-18 03:55:05","modified":"2005-08-15 03:01:13","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 10:01:13","article":"

PHOTO CAPTION:

An Iraqi boy observes U.S. military helicopters flying over a burning U.S. tank after an attack by militants, in eastern Baghdad, August 16, 2004. Fighting raged between American soldiers and the Mehdi militia in a Shi'ite slum in Baghdad, where gunmen exploded a bomb under a U.S. tank and then set it on fire. The crew escaped with minor wounds, a U.S. army spokesman said. A U.S. helicopter gunship later strafed the street where the tank was hit. Militiamen responded with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. REUTERS\/Thaier Al-Sudani



BAGHDAD, Aug 16 (Reuters) Fierce clashes raged in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite suburb today with militiamen destroying a U.S. tank, witnesses said.

U.S. forces had sealed Sadr City, a slum of two million people on the edge of the capital, earlier today after days of skirmishes that coincided with a radical Shi'ite uprising in at least eight cities in central and southern Iraq.

The witnesses said Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr hit a tank with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and set it ablaze.

Reuters Television footage showed the tank on fire. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.

A U.S. helicopter gunship later strafed the street where the tank was hit. Militiamen fired more RPGs and assualt rifles.<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.deepikaglobal.com\/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=67182","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Fierce clashes raged in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite suburb today with militiamen destroying a U.S. tank, witnesses said.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/1.jpgu3btaf.jpg","filesize":"16.3 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2004\/08\/115792.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/1.jpgu3btaf.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2004\/08\/1.jpgu3btaf.jpgthumb.jpg"}},"attachments":[{"id":115793,"heading":"Iraqi youths celebrate","article":"Iraqi youths celebrate on top of a burning U.S. Army tank after it came under attack by militants in the eastern Baghdad's Shi'ite suburb of al-Sadr city August 16, 2004. 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