In the lead-up to the Day of Ashura, which involves large numbers of pilgrims travelling, some to Najaf, for Shiite festivals, the Iraqi officials claimed[2] to have discovered a plot by "a heavily armed cult"[2] to assassinate the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and other Shia religious leaders.

[2] Alleged plans called for the insurgents to disguise themselves as pilgrims and suddenly open fire, in attempts to assassinate as many leading Shiite clerics as possible[2] and cause overall disruption of the holiday.

The airstrikes carried out by Special Forces operators partnered with the Iraqi Army helped break the stalemate, but not before one American AH-64 attack helicopter was shot down, killing two U.S.

[citation needed] Once the crash site was secured by U.S. forces and the enemy disposition was ascertained, further support was requested.

On 1 February, the city of Najaf was cordoned off, and subsequently Iraqi Government and U.S. forces appeared to be involved in heavy fighting, including helicopter gunship support.

[citation needed] This seemingly contradicted initial assessment that the hostile group was effectively destroyed after the battle of 28 January, but independently verified information was not available at the time.

A radical Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mahmud al-Hasani al-Sarkhi, was reported on 6 February 2007, to be calling for an independent inquiry into what "many in Iraq now regard as a 'massacre' in which scores of women and children were killed."

[10] The LA Times reported, "More than 36 hours after the initial assault, estimates by Iraqi officials on the number of dead fighters varied from 150 to 400.

[15] The Iraqi army said it captured some 500 automatic rifles in addition to mortars, at least 40 machine guns, and even some Russian-made Katyusha rockets and anti-aircraft missiles.

Information recovered from dead and captured fighters indicate they belonged to a renegade Shi'ite group which called themselves the Soldiers of Heaven (Jund al-Samaa) and have been described as an apocalyptic religious cult.

He was identified as a deputy to the cult leader Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, who was believed to be a former security officer from the old regime.

[1] Another report (Associated Press) said Maj. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, "the Iraqi commander in charge of the Najaf region" claimed cult leader Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim "died in the battle".