Iraqi cult and its 'messiah' destroyed near Najaf

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Monday January 29, 2007 17:20 by pat c

This is a very strange story. The relative casualties - seven coalition dead, 300 insurgents dead, suggests that a massacre took place. In the Irish Times it is stated that the Iraqi government originally claimed that the dead were Sunnis.

I haven't managed to find an independent assessment of this story. If anyone can find one then please post a link here.

pat c

Iraqi cult and its 'messiah' destroyed near Najaf

An apocalyptic sect, led by a man claiming to be an Islamic messiah, has been wiped out in Iraq just as it was planning to disrupt the holiest day in the Shia Muslim calendar, Iraqi officials claimed today.

Iraqi soldiers, backed by US tanks and helicopters, concluded one of the strangest battles in four years of fighting in the country at dawn this morning near the city of Najaf.

Local government officials claimed that as many as 300 militants from a Shia sect calling themselves Jund al-Samaa (Soldiers of Heaven) were killed in fierce fighting that lasted for nearly 24 hours and cost the lives of five Iraqi personnel and two US servicemen whose helicopter crashed. A further 100 rebels were reported captured.