Iraqi civilians flee from their homes with their belongings to look for a safer place during the second day of clashes between U.S. army and Iraqi National Guards with al-Mahdi army fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the holy Muslim city of Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday Aug. 6, 2004. U.S. helicopters attacked militants hiding in a cemetery near the Imam Ali Shrine in the old city at Najaf's center, where smoke could be seen rising. Gunfire and explosions rang out as U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen advance toward the area. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Fighting Escalates in Shiite Strongholds

• By ncs-import
• August 5, 2004