Thousands of Iraqis Gather for Anti-American Protests

VOA News

Taskforce Patriot patrols Baghdad's Mansour district

Thousands of Iraqis are gathering in Najaf for a protest Monday, on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces.

Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqis Sunday to protest the U.S. presence in Iraq and demand that Iraqi security forces stop cooperating with the U.S. military.

The threat of car bomb attacks has prompted authorities to impose a 24-hour vehicle ban in Baghdad Monday and Tuesday.

A man stands among the carnage after a pickup truck loaded with artillery shells exploded in the town of Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, 08 Apr 2007

Elsewhere, the U.S. military says a car bomb attack Sunday near a hospital south of Baghdad killed 17 people and wounded 26.

Police say the blast in Mahmoudiyah was caused by a pickup truck loaded with explosives.

U.S. officials also said six American soldiers died in attacks south of Baghdad and north of the capital in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces.