Helfire Missiles vs Mehdi Militia Missiles

A U.S. military official said a surface-to-air missile was fired from eastern Baghdad at a U.S. aircraft on Saturday evening. The missile exploded harmlessly, the official said.

He did say what type of aircraft was attacked, but the New York Times reported the missile was fired at a U.S. Apache attack helicopter. It was launched after the agreement to end fighting in Sadr City had been announced.

Stover also blamed the so-called "special groups" for a failed surface-to-air missile attack on a helicopter gunship over Sadr City on Saturday. The missile was fired from an unknown location in eastern Baghdad but missed the target, he said.

The missile harmlessly exploded, and the rocket body landed in the Azamiyah neighborhood, where it was recovered by allied Sunni fighters and handed over to the U.S. military.


U.S. military said that it responded to several attacks by militants with precision strikes, but only confirmed killing three militants. Two of the militants were killed in a Hellfire missile strike by an attack aircraft, according to the military. U.S. soldiers also suppressed "enemy fire" in four other clashes with tanks and attack aircraft, the military said.

A spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad, Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover, said U.S. forces only targeted militants launching attacks in Monday night's clashes.

"We're not looking for a fight -- we are establishing a safe neighbourhood for Sadr City residents," Stover said. "They (the militants) are obviously not listening to any agreement."


"It is clear that Sadr does not control all of the armed groups that make up the Mehdi Army," Kadhum al-Muqdadi, a professor at Baghdad University, told Reuters. "This fighting could last a long time."