BAGHDAD, Aug 3: The US army opened fire on a convoy carrying supporters of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr at a checkpoint south of Baghdad on Thursday, wounding at least 16 people, Iraqi police said.

The US military said it was checking the report and had no immediate comment.

A Mahmudiya police source said the convoy, transporting Sadr supporters from Najaf to Baghdad for a rally on Friday, had been passing by a US base in the flashpoint town of Mahmudiya when the shooting took place.

He said the last five vehicles in the 13-vehicle convoy had ignored instructions at a traffic checkpoint, prompting the US soldiers to open fire.

He said one person was killed and 16 wounded. A police source in Baghdad said only 16 were wounded.

Sadr commands the Mehdi Army militia, which has clashed repeatedly with US and Iraqi troops in recent weeks during a security crackdown on so-called rogue militias that US officials say pose a major threat to the stability of Iraq.—Reuters