IN 2003: A crowd of Iraqis watched as a statue of deposed president Saddam Hussein was pulled down by American troops in Baghdad's Fardus (Paradise) Square on April 9 - an act that symbolised the fall of his brutal regime. -- PHOTO: AFP

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Iraqi officials said three mortar rounds rocked Sadr City, the eastern Baghdad stronghold of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, killing at least seven people and wounding 24 others.

One of the mortars struck a tent set up for a condolence service for a person killed earlier in the week.

All in, 16 people have died as clashes between security forces and Shi'ite militiamen, which started on Sunday, continued in Baghdad yesterday.

The city's Green Zone, which houses diplomatic missions and much of Iraq's government, also came under renewed attack by rockets or mortars early yesterday.

The United States embassy confirmed the shelling, but said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

US 'vulnerable to attacks THE Bush administration's Iraq policy has left the United States with insufficient resources to protect itself, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives said yesterday. 'When looking at the needs in Afghanistan, the effort in Iraq, however important, is putting at risk our ability to decisively defeat those most likely to attack us,' said Representative Ike Skelton, the committee chairman. ... more

The bloodshed served as a stark reminder of Iraq's continuing instability five years after US troops swept into Baghdad and toppled Saddam's regime on April 9, 2003.

That day, US troops pulled down a statue of the dictator in Baghdad's Fardus Square - an act that symbolised the fall of his brutal regime.

A jubilant Iraqi crowd 'insulted' the fallen statue by smacking its face with their shoes. But the euphoria of victory was soon dissipated.

For Iraqis, the period since Saddam's ouster has been one of turmoil and bloodletting.

'When I saw the American tanks roll into Baghdad, I was happy and full of dreams...of a prosperous Iraq, a developed Iraq. But since then, it has become a nightmare of suffering and destruction,' said Ms Sarah Yussef, 25.

Mr Basim Atia, an unemployed man living in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, described the toppling of Saddam as a 'black day' in the history of Iraq.

'On that day, all our values were turned upside down. Today we see only killing and sectarianism, and scientists and doctors are fleeing the country.'

Between 104,000 and 223,000 Iraqi civilians died from March 2003 to June 2006 alone, according to the World Health Organisation.

Fears of rising violence are running deep after hardline Sadr, angered by attacks on his militiamen, threatened to end the truce his feared Mahdi Army has been observing since last August.

US commanders acknowledge that the ceasefire was one of the factors behind a sharp drop in violence across Iraq in the second half of last year.

Sadr had last week called for a million-strong anti-US rally in Baghdad to mark the anniversary of Saddam's ouster but cancelled it on Tuesday 'to save Iraqi blood'.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani yesterday said he backed efforts to disband the Mahdi Army.

'I hope they respond to the demand of all political factions to disband the Jaish Al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army),' he told reporters in Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, in an interview with American television network CNN broadcast on Monday, said an ultimatum had been given to Sadr to disband his militia.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE