Additional Reporting By Aws Al-Sharqi, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, April 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Amid incessant clashes with Shiites in several Iraqi towns which claimed more innocent lives, the U.S.-led occupation authorities vowed Wednesday, April 7, to annihilate Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

The threat came as Polish troops have shot dead three Iraqis in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, including the representative of Martyr Sadr Office.

The aide, identified as Sayyed Murtada al-Musawi, had been hit in the leg and the chest, said an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent who saw his body at the city morgue.

Saleh al-Hasnawi, the health ministry representative in Karbala, earlier said "there were eight killed, including five Iranians, and 16 wounded, including four Iranians, during the overnight clashes in Karbala."

Meanwhile, four Iraqis were killed in a U.S. air raid on Baghdad's Sadr City district overnight and three more died from wounds sustained in fighting a day earlier, a hospital director said Wednesday.

"Four people were killed and seven others were wounded in the air strike in Gayyara neighborhood, "Qasem Madhkor, director of the Thawra General Hospital, told AFP.

"Three of the wounded from the fighting a night before died today, "he said.

Madhkor said the hospital had received since Sunday 46 people killed, including a 10-year-old boy whose body has not yet been claimed by any family member, and 132 wounded.

At least 64 people have been killed and 242 others wounded in Sadr City alone since Sunday, according to an AFP tally.

Attack To Destroy

"We will attack to destroy the Mahdi Army, "Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a press briefing in Baghdad.

"Our offensive operations will be deliberate, they will be precise, and they will be powerful and they will succeed, "AFP quoted him as saying.

The Mahdi Army has been engaged in fierce battles with U.S.-led occupation troops that left up to 100 Iraqis and more than 20 U.S. troops killed and hundreds wounded since Sunday, April 4.

"We are now understanding more and more about the Mahdi Army, how they operate, where they operate, against who they operate," Kimmitt said.

"If Mr. Sadr wants to reduce the violence and calm things down, he can do that. He can turn himself in, to a local police station and he can face justice, "he added.

The U.S. occupation authorities said Tuesday, April 6, they had an arrest warrant  for Sadr, alleging he was involved in the murder of Shiite leader Abdel Majid Al-Khoei last April.

Sadr, who urged his supporters Sunday to “terrorize the enemy”  as demonstrations were now pointless, ended his sit-in Tuesday in Kufa and moved to An-Najaf to turn off bloodshed.

Although the U.S. army is engaging in separate operations against Shiite fighters north of Baghdad and in the south and launching raids against the Sunni town of Fallujah, Kimmitt claimed they were not faced with two fronts.

"In terms of fighting two fronts, I think it is probably a misrepresentation, "he argued.

At least 52 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed and some 100 others injured overnight in continued American bombardment of densely-populated areas in Fallujah under crippling siege since Monday, April 5.

The deaths raised to 67 the number of civilians killed since the start of the U.S. grisly offensive.

Fighting Rages On

The Shiite resistance in the city also goes unabated for a fourth straight day between Sadr’s supporters and U.S.-led occupation troops.

A new resistance group called “Al-Hussein Brigades” vowed to launch deadly attacks on the occupation troops.

Locals have set ablaze a U.S. Humvee in Al-Talibiya square as Mahdi Army members have been deployed atop houses and buildings.

In Al-Azamiya, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraqi fighters engaged in pitched battles with U.S. troops after paying last respect to nine fellowmen killed by occupation gunfire.

The U.S. headquarters in the town also come under mortar attacks.

Shiite scholar Mohammad Hassan Al-Qarawai told IOL the "blessed uprising" was not confined to An-Najaf but spread nationwide.

"Today, Shiites and Sunnis have unified their ranks under the banner of Islam, "he said.

"We should recall in such hard times the courage and gallantry of Imam Al-Hussein and take upon ourselves the liberation of our land after teaching the occupation an unforgettable lesson, "he added.

Iraqi Shiites have fought Monday alongside fellow Sunni compatriots in the Baghdad district of Al-Azamiya in die-hard battles against U.S. forces, in the first joint resistance operation against the U.S.-led occupation.

Ukrainians Retreat 

Ukrainian troops Wednesday withdrew from the Iraqi city of Kut, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Baghdad, after heavy fighting with Sadr’s supporters who now control the city, the Ukrainian defense ministry said.

"At the request of the Americans, and to preserve the life of our military, the commander of the Ukrainian contingent decided to evacuate the civil administration staff and Ukrainian troops from Kut, "the ministry said in a statement.

"The operation began at dawn on Wednesday ... under escort from attack helicopters," the ministry added.

It added that the fighting lasted for around 24 hours and left several dozen Iraqis and one Ukrainian soldier killed, in the first fatality sustained by the Ukrainian forces in combat in Iraq.

Ukraine has some 1,650 troops in Iraq, part of a 9,000-strong Polish-led occupation force controlling a swathe of the country south of Baghdad.