Iraq War

American-trained Iraqi security forces failed for a third straight day to oust Shiite militias from the southern city of Basra on Thursday, even as President Bush hailed the operation as a sign of the growing strength of Iraq’s federal government.

A Minnesota soldier died Wednesday while manning a guard tower in Iraq. Gregory B. Rundell, 21, of North St. Paul, joined the Army in 2005, his mother, Joanne Richardson, also of North St. Paul, said at a news conference in St. Paul Thursday night.

Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session on Friday in an attempt to end violence in the oil city of Basra after an army crackdown on Shi'ite militia sparked fighting across the south and mass protests in Baghdad.

"The battle is not easy without coalition support," lamented one Basra resident, who had worked as a translator for the British forces. "The police in Basra are useless and helping the Mahdi Army. The militia are hiding among the civilians..."

Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr wants a "political solution" to the crisis that has led to deadly clashes between his followers and government security forces this week in Baghdad and the oil-rich south.

The State Department has instructed all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures due to incoming insurgent rocket fire that has killed two American government workers this week.

Heavy clashes erupted in Naseriya city, one of the biggest cities in the southern Iraqi province of Thi-Qaar...the clashes began at six o'clock p.m. local time, and bomb blasts shook the city after gun fires were heard.

Fighting between Shiite factions continues in Basra and Baghdad, raising concerns that security gains made during the U.S. "surge" might unravel. Madeleine Brand talks to Dina Temple-Raston, who has the details from Baghdad.

A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed at approximately 4:30 p.m. March 27 after being struck by an improvised explosive device in eastern Baghdad while conducting a combat patrol.

A U.S. government employee was killed and four others were wounded in Baghdad this week by rocket attacks on the Green Zone diplomatic and government compound, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

Family members tell us U.S. Army Specialist Matthew McCool, a Tehachapi native, was seriously hurt during an explosion while on a mission Thursday night. McCool was hit by shrapnel in the head and was airlifted to a green zone hospital in Baghdad.

The Ministry of Defence is to admit that its troops tortured and breached the human rights of nine Iraqi men they detained in southern Iraq in 2003, opening the way to potentially large compensation claims.

Iraqi and US forces found 37 bodies in a mass grave uncovered in the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday, a US military statement said. The grave was found near the town of Muqdadiyah in the province...

An Interior Ministry official says the civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security operation has been kidnapped and three bodyguards killed. Tahseen Sheikhly is a Sunni who often appeared with U.S. military and embassy officials at news...

Nine people were killed and 95 others wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and Mehdi Army members in different parts of Baghdad, said Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is promising to pursue his fight against Shiite militias in Basra to "the end." Al-Maliki made his pledge to Basra area tribal leaders Thursday as military operations against the militias continued for a fourth day...

Authorities identified the remains of two more U.S. contractors kidnapped in Iraq and are awaiting forensic testing on remains of a third body...FBI spokesman...identified the two men as Paul Johnson-Reuben of Minneapolis and Joshua Munns of Redding...

One of southern Iraq's two main oil export pipelines has been severely damaged in a bomb attack, officials said today. The bombing of the pipeline, seven miles south of Basra, came as clashes between Iraqi security forces...

Shiite militants are hammering the U.S.-protected Green Zone today with rockets and mortars for the fourth day this week. Thick, black smoke is billowing from inside the heavily fortified home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government.

Thousands of supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched in Baghdad on Thursday to protest against a three-day-old crackdown against his followers and call for the downfall of the U.S.-backed government.