12/6/2004 8:00:00 PM GMT
Fierce clashes broke out on Monday between U.S. forces and Iraqi fighters in Baghdad's Haifa Street.
In the Tahrir square, residents said that fighters shot dead a man who they said was working for the U.S. occupation forces.
Fighters were also seen in the Mathaf Square, just three blocks from the heavily guarded Green Zone which houses Iraqi and U.S. offices including the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. army didn’t comment but residents said that U.S. forces, backed by armored vehicles, attacked the fighters.
Haifa street, which runs through central Baghdad, has witnessed frequent clashes between U.S. occupation forces and anti-occupation fighters.
Earlier Monday, three fighters were killed and four injured during clashes in Haditha, 220 km northwest of Baghdad in the Anbar province.
In northern Iraq, an oil pipeline was attacked in the city of Samarra, sending flames and black smoke into the sky, Col. Mahmoud Ahmed said.
Meanwhile, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said on Monday that three Marines were killed in two separate attacks Sunday in Ramadi and Fallujah. The deaths bring to 1,276 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since the invasion began in March 2003.
Monday’s violence came a day after rebels attacked a bus carrying Iraqis to work at a U.S. base near Tikrit, killing 17 people.
Also Sunday, rebels attacked a joint Iraqi-U.S. convoy in Latifiyah, south of Baghdad, and fought with Iraqi National Guardsmen patrolling near Samarra. Two Iraqis were killed and 10 injured in the attacks.