Insurgents pound U.S. base in Najaf and government buildings in

NAJAF, Iraq -- Militiamen launched a barrage of mortar shells against a U.S. base in this holy city and government buildings guarded by Bulgarian forces in Karbala on Tuesday, a day after intense clashes in Najaf that killed up to 20 Iraqis.

No coalition troops were killed in the violence, but four U.S. soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division died after their vehicle overturned during a combat patrol north of Baghdad, according to the Army.

U.S. artillery, meanwhile, shelled rebel positions late Monday after insurgents fired on aircraft near Baghdad airport. Four Iraqi insurgents were killed, the military said Tuesday.

"Enemy attackers had engaged two aircraft providing close air support for a ground patrol with small arms fire," the command said in a written statement. "A coalition forces ground patrol engaged the enemy attackers and called in artillery support."

Gunners from the Army's 1st Cavalry Division launched a series of rounds from 155 mm self-propelled Paladin artillery pieces, the military said.

Sporadic overnight mortar attacks on the U.S. base in Najaf followed intense fighting on Monday between U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The U.S. military moved soldiers to the base inside the city last month after Spanish peacekeepers withdrew from the country.

But the military has been cautious about returning fire. Al- Sadr's office is located only a few yards from one of the holiest Shiite shrines and not far from the U.S. base. U.S. officials repeatedly have accused militiamen of storing weapons in shrines and mosques.

U.S. officers estimated that about 20 Iraqis may have been killed Monday by U.S. retaliatory fire. Five Iraqis were killed and 16 wounded, according to hospital officials.

In Karbala, 50 miles north of Najaf, the city hall and the police headquarters, which are guarded by Bulgarian soldiers, also came under mortar fire before dawn Tuesday, Bulgarian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Rumyana Strugareva said.

No casualties or damage were reported after that attack, which lasted about ten minutes.

Al-Sadr's forces, which launched an uprising across southern Iraq in early April, have stepped up attacks in recent days -- apparently either to pressure U.S. officials to negotiate an end to the standoff or to goad troops into retaliating and raising Shiite anger.

On a second front, a senior Marine officer said Tuesday that the new Iraqi military force that is replacing U.S. troops in Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, is "meeting expectations" in bringing calm to the city.

An all-Iraqi force of up to 1,100 began moving into positions from withdrawing Marines last week as part of an agreement to restore order in the city, the site of a nearly monthlong siege that left 10 Marines and several hundred Iraqis dead.

In another development, a former American hostage Thomas Hamill was pronounced "in generally good health" though a few pounds lighter, according to Maj. Kerry Jepsen, a surgeon treating him at a U.S. military hospital in Germany.

Hamill, 43, who escaped his captors Sunday in a daring run to freedom, was to be reunited with his wife later Tuesday.

"I am very glad to be back on an American installation. I am looking forward to returning to America," he said. He urged Americans to "keep your thoughts and prayers with those who are still" in Iraq.

Col. John Coleman, chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in the western province of Anbar, which includes Fallujah, would not discuss military activities in Fallujah but said "there is a percentage of (the city) where normalcy has returned."

Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abdul-Latif, who opposed Saddam Hussein, was preparing to take over as head of the new force, subject to a final background check by U.S. officials. Abdul-Latif would replace another general who may have been involved in Saddam-era repression.

During a brief news conference, Abdul-Latif condemned the brutal killing and mutilation of four American contractors in Fallujah last month, which triggered the siege. However, Abdul-Latif said the people of Fallujah collectively were not to blame.

"The people of Fallujah should take pride in the fact that that mutilation was condemned from every (mosque) pulpit," he said. "The people of Fallujah do not share responsibility for this prohibited act."

Abdul-Latif met Tuesday with former officers of Saddam's army at the headquarters of Iraqi security forces in Fallujah.

Fallujah residents have been celebrating what many see as a victory over the U.S. Marines. Masked and armed insurgents have moved freely in the city's streets, sometimes standing alongside Iraqi policemen.

U.S. officials say the Fallujah Brigade will crack down on hard- core guerrillas in the city even though the force itself will likely include some gunmen who had been involved in fighting against the Marines.

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