US forces clash with Iraqi militia, 9 killed: police

(Updates with U.S. statement)

BAGHDAD, July 7 – Up to nine people were killed in clashes
between U.S. troops and the Mehdi Army militia of Shi’ite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in eastern Baghdad early on Friday,
police and witnesses said.

An Interior Ministry source said the clashes erupted when
U.S. forces backed by helicopters raided houses in the slum
district of Sadr City, a stronghold, of Sadr’s Mehdi Army at 2
a.m. (2200 GMT).

The source, who did not want to be named, said nine people
were killed and 31 wounded. Four houses were also destroyed.

A police source put the death toll at seven and said the
casualties were all militiamen.

The U.S. military said in a statement the raid had been by
Iraqi soldiers, aimed at capturing an insurgent leader
responsible for numerous deaths.

“The forces were immediately engaged by insurgents and a
firefight ensued,” the military said in a statement, adding
that no Iraqi or U.S. troops had been wounded or killed in the
operation.