KARBALA, Iraq — Heavy gunfire and huge explosions rumbled Thursday through this Shiite holy city as fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr refused to end their standoff with American forces, despite losing one of their main bases at a mosque.
Big blasts were heard late Thursday in another holy city, Najaf, where al-Sadr's Shiite militiamen also face American troops. U.S. troops are trying to disband the cleric's army and sideline its radical leadership before handing power to a new Iraqi government June 30.
In central Iraq, roadside bombs killed a Marine in the Fallujah area. U.S. authorities also said a soldier and a Marine died Wednesday of wounds in Sunni Muslim-dominated areas.
The continued violence there persists despite a deal last month to end the deadly, three-week siege of Fallujah. Under the agreement, U.S. Marines withdrew and an Iraqi force led by a former commander in Saddam Hussein's army took responsibility for the city's security.
Al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army became a major problem for the United States in April, when his fighters swept across the Shiite heartland south of Baghdad, capturing police stations and government buildings after U.S. authorities announced a warrant for his arrest in the April 2003 killing of a rival cleric.
Al-Mahdi militiamen, whose base in Karbala's Mukhaiyam mosque was partly destroyed by U.S. forces on Wednesday, regrouped Thursday in alleys north of the city's premier Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims. Thick smoke drifted over its golden dome.
Fighting also raged near the city's Imam Abbas shrine. American forces are concerned that any damage to the two shrines could enrage Iraq's majority Shiite population as the United States tries to stabilize the country.
Muslim clerics and political leaders in Karbala named Shakir Abdul-Amir, a former major general in Saddam's army, to mediate an end to the fighting. U.S. officials have said they would welcome Iraqis who wanted to resolve the conflict with al-Sadr peacefully, but there was no indication the fiery young cleric was willing to accept Abdul-Amir.
Mohammed Hussein al-Hakim, son of one of the four top Shiite clerics in Najaf, suggested the Shiite religious leadership has done all it can to mediate.
"The marjaiyah (religious leadership) has not offered a solution because it knows that the parties involved will not implement the wise, calculated and religiously sound solution. That is for all armed groups to leave the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala," he said at his home.
Residents said the fighting in Karbala this week left many homes destroyed and shops gutted by fire, and many families fled to safer areas of the city. In some cases, men stayed while women and children left.
Young men gathered at street corners to watch the fighting. Militiamen in groups of three and four moved in side streets.
Majeed Mohammed Ali, owner of a cloth shop across from the Imam Abbas shrine, and two employees loaded his merchandise into a truck for storage elsewhere.
"I cannot wait any longer. Many shops have been burned down. I will not reopen my shop until all this is over," Ali said from atop the truck.
Pilgrims pleaded with guards of the two shrines to let them in, but they remained closed. Many of the faithful searched for telephones to assure relatives that they were safe.
On Wednesday night, al-Sadr followers stormed three police stations in Najaf, killing one policemen and injuring two. The attackers looted several cars and some weapons, and destroyed computers and furniture, said Brig. Hassan Hamza, deputy police chief.
U.S. soldiers later arrived and retook the police stations.
Hospital officials in Najaf said four people were killed and six injured in fighting between American forces and al-Sadr supporters. None was American.
Coalition officials have said they welcome efforts to work for a peaceful solution, even though they will not negotiate with al-Sadr and want him to face justice.
During a conversation with journalists in Baghdad this week, Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the soldiers fighting in Karbala, said military leaders were considering a strike on al-Sadr last October, but were advised to hold back. That reluctance now looks like a mistake, he said.