BAGHDAD, Aug 16: US troops came under fresh attack north of Baghdad on Saturday, as Shias in one of the capital’s poorest districts again warned the Americans that they would fight them if they resume patrols there.

A US army vehicle was destroyed when a patrol hit mines near the town of Baquba, 65 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, a witness said.

The village of Abara was sealed off after the attack, in which four mines exploded, said the witness. There were no reports of casualties, and the US army would not immediately confirm the incident.

Baquba has been a regular battleground between US troops and Iraqi guerilla fighters.

In Baghdad’s Sadr City district, an impoverished suburb that is home to about two million Shias, many residents said they would rise up if the US military resumed patrols there.

“We have weapons, we have our RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) ready,” said Firas Temimi, a 30-year-old shopkeeper.

An Iraqi was killed in clashes on Wednesday sparked when US troops in a helicopter removed a religious flag from a communications tower in the northeastern Baghdad suburb, which like much of the capital is awash with weapons.

On Friday more than 10,000 faithful gathered under the tower to denounce the perceived US army assault on their faith.

“If the office says hit them, we will hit them,” said Falah Allawi, a 26-year-old unemployed man, referring to the office of firebrand anti-occupation leader, Moqtada Sadr.

The US army on Friday insisted it would continue its security operations in the area, but residents and police said there had been no patrols since the chopper incident.

“They stopped patrolling here after Wednesday’s incident,” Iraqi police Colonel Maruf Omran, head of the area’s Al Habibia police station, said.

An American soldier at a US base on the edge of the district formerly known as Saddam City, said all patrols there had been cancelled.

At Friday’s prayers there Sheikh Abdul Hadi al Daraji told his congregation that he rejected a US apology for the helicopter incident and warned that the area could explode if American troops returned.

“We will not be responsible for what will happen to the Americans if they enter Sadr City again,” he said.—AFP