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BAGHDAD, May 9: US forces clashed with fighters loyal to Shia leader Moqtada Al-Sadr in Baghdad's Sadr City suburb on Sunday and killed 18, a US military spokesman said. Brig-Gen Mark Kimmitt said US-led forces had responded to reports that militiamen had set up checkpoints and attacked police stations in the district.
"Coalition forces have stabilised the situation at two Iraqi police stations in the district and have killed 18," Kimmit told a news conference. Witnesses said Sadr militiamen had fired several mortar bombs at a government building and engaged in brief gun battles with American soldiers in different parts of the neighbourhood.
Iraq's US-led authorities have vowed to kill or capture the leader, who is holed up in Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad.
BLAST: In Baghdad, an explosion at a crowded market on Sunday killed at least seven Iraqis, including three policemen, and wounded 13, medical staff said. In Basra, three British soldiers were wounded when a grenade was thrown at their vehicle, a British military spokesman said.
He said British positions took mortar fire overnight in the town of Amara, but denied a report of a British air strike. Mehdi Army fighters patrolled some streets in Basra but the city was generally calm a day after they fought running battles with troops in a show of strength after suffering heavy losses from US forces elsewhere in Shia southern Iraq. -Reuters
