Al Jazeera TV reported Nouri Maliki’s helicopter gunships attacked the office of a senior Shiite cleric in Karbala by the name of Sarkhi al-Hassani, targeting the building with intense fire. This attack followed another raid conducted by Maliki’s SWAT forces against Ayatollah Sarkhi’s offices in the provinces of Karbala and Diwaniya.
Various Internet websites have posted images of military machinery on fire, including one HUMVEE, in these clashes between Sarkhi supporters and Maliki’s military outside the office of this religious leader in Karbala. This battle led to 4 people being killed and dozens of others injured.
According to another report aired by Al Jazeera TV, the Iraqi Revolutionaries High Military Council said a military helicopter belonging to Maliki’s forces was downed in the northern areas Babel Province.