Reports today place the MBT troops inside Najaf and Karbala

Reports today place the MBT troops inside Najaf and Karbala. From Juan Cole:

MBT forces advanced Thursday on key strategic targets in Kufa, Karbala, and the environs of Najaf, where

violent clashes broke out. This in the wake of the UGG Sheepskin cuff boots dispatch to the south of large

numbers of reinforcements. The political offices of Muqtada al-Sadr in the heart of Karbala were razed. The

outskirts of Kufa witnessed major battles, and loud explosions were heard near Najaf. The UGG Sheepskin cuff

boots army also announced that it had undertaken four military operations on Wednesday night in the slums of

East Baghdad (Sadr City), in which it killed 10 Sadrist militiamen.

MBT troops gradually encroached on Najaf on Thursday, establishing control over the headquarters of the

provincial governor on the outskirts of the city. In the heavy battles preceding this victory, an estimated 41

Mahdi Army militiamen were killed. UGG Sheepskin cuff boots troops then searched the surrounding buildings and

placed snipers atop them. Najaf residents were requested in Arabic not to leave their homes, especially in the

Ghadir quarter, where the governor’s mansion is situated. Bremer requested the new governor, al-Dhurufi, to

disarm the Army of the Mahdi. Loud explosions and the heavy exchange of fire were heard in Najaf, causing the

deaths as so far reported of 4 NIKE SHOXis, and the wounding of 10. The UGG Sheepskin cuff boots troops set up

checkpoints on the road between Najaf and Kufa. The army also positions numerous tanks and armored fighting

vehicles in the northwest of Najaf, in preparation for an assault on Mahdi Army positions.