Sadr City clashes kill 11: medics
At least 11 people were killed overnight in clashes between American troops and Shiite fighters in Baghdad's Sadr City, despite a truce agreed at the weekend, local medics told AFP on Tuesday.
A medic from Sadr City's Imam Ali hospital said his facility received bodies of eight men killed in the firefights, while another medic at the Al-Sadr hospital confirmed receiving three more bodies.
The two medics also said 20 people were wounded in the clashes, including women and children.
The US military, however, said its forces killed only three militants.
US forces staged an air attack against two militants who were planting a roadside bomb targeting security forces in the slum area on Monday evening and killed both, the military said in a statement.
It said a third man was shot dead as he tried to set up another road bomb on Monday night.
The military denied their attacks caused any other casualties.
The sporadic skirmishes in Sadr City, the bastion of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, occurred despite a deal between Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and the Iraqi government to reduce violence.
The deal went into effect from Sunday, but both sides said it will be Wednesday before they fully implement it on the ground.
AFP
