Iraqi police entered the Imam Ali shrine complex in Najaf on 20 August 2004, evicting armed Shiite militiamen from the grounds and taking approximately 400 of them into custody.
An interim government spokesman, speaking anonymously in Baghdad, confirmed that all armed fighters had been removed from the shrine. Moqtada Sadr, whose militia had occupied the site, was not captured in the operation. The spokesman offered no details on Sadr's whereabouts or whether police were in pursuit.
Despite the official account of success, fighting broke out again in the southern part of Najaf between US forces and Shiite militia fighters. The renewed clashes cast immediate doubt on government assertions that police had secured the shrine and its surroundings.
The gap between official statements and what reporters observed on the ground left the status of the operation unclear, with no confirmation that the situation in the city had stabilized.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.