Gun Battles Leave Many Dead in Iraq

[chlamor]

Gun battles leave many dead in Iraq

Wednesday 23 March 2005, 5:50 Makka Time, 2:50 GMT  

A full-scale shootout between shopkeepers and armed gangs erupted on Tuesday in Baghdad's al-Dura district as violence continued elsewhere. 

Shopkeepers in the neighbourhood grabbed their guns and returned fire on three cars from which armed men were spraying their premises with bullets, interim Defence and Interior Ministry officials said.
  
Three armed men were killed and another three arrested, along with six civilians injured, in the sudden clash near the Shia al-Sadr mosque. 

In Samarra, a unit from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior 1st Police Commando Battalion was attacked as they conducted a raid on a camp thought to house anti-US fighters near Lake Tharthar at about 11am (0800 GMT).At least seven Iraqi commandos died during the raid with the backing of US troops, the US military said in a statement.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5A1B95F6-1791-42AD-85C8-F5FA299269E7.htm