Dozens Of Iraqi National Guardsmen Deploy In Najaf

NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 24 (AFP) - Dozens of Iraqi national guardsmen were deployed alongside US troops for the first time around Najaf's holy shrine, in a fierce ground assault against Shiite militiamen on Tuesday, an AFP correspondent saw.
Coming under heavy fire from Mehdi Army fighters loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, the guardsmen, helmeted and wearing body armour, shot back as they advanced down Medina Street, which runs parallel to the Imam Ali mausoleum.
They were accompanied by US troops in Humvees as a blizzard of gunfire and heavy explosions sounded across the Old City, just two streets away from the mausoleum, one of the holiest Shiite Muslim shrines in the world.
Warplanes spearheaded a heavy overnight US assault against Sadr's militiamen in Najaf. By dawn, US tanks were back within 200 metres (yards) of the Imam Ali shrine, after having retreated Monday.