NAJAF, May 25: The Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, the holiest site in Iraq, was damaged on Tuesday by rockets or mortars, witnesses said. In clashes between the occupying troops and militiamen, 12 Iraqis were killed in Najaf and Kufa.

One of the entrances to the shrine was damaged in the attack. It was not clear who fired the missiles. US forces have been fighting militiamen loyal to radical leader Moqtada al Sadr in Najaf and other predominantly Shia areas.

Ahmad Shebani, Moqtada Sadr's representative at the shrine, said five or six missiles had hit the building. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt of the US Army said US soldiers were not responsible for damaging the mosque. "The coalition forces had no involvement in the damage to the Imam Ali mosque," he told a news briefing in Baghdad.

Witnesses said three people had been wounded in the attack, none seriously. Sadr visited the shrine after the attack to personally inspect the damage, as crowds of supporters chanted. -Reuters