US air strike hits Iraq militiamen amid clashes

DIWANIYAH: US aircraft on Saturday targeted suspected militiamen armed with rocket-propelled grenades during a second day of clashes between gunmen and US-backed Iraqi forces in the troubled Shiite city of Diwaniyah.   

Doctor Hamid Gaati said four dead and 25 wounded had been admitted to hospital since Iraqi troops launched the operation in Diwaniyah on Friday but voiced fear that there were other casualties ambulances were unable to reach.   

The US military said its aircraft carried out a strike against suspected militiamen after receiving a tip-off from residents in the central city that has been plagued by militia clashes for months.   

"Iraqi army and coalition forces as part of Operation Black Eagle used a strategic air strike to defend against illegally armed militia men using shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenades," the US forces said.   

An Iraqi army source said that US planes attacked and hit houses where suspects were holed up in the city's Al-Jumhuriyah district, "destroying two of them." There was no immediate word on casualties, he added.   

The military said air support had been called in by the Iraqi army after "positive identification of the militiamen."   

Diwaniyah remained under curfew for a second day and hospitals were calling in doctors to report for duty, while the city's communication lines were also cut, apparently by authorities, witnesses and the Iraqi source added.   

The Iraqi source said clashes were also pitting Iraqi and US forces against armed men in Diwaniyah's Salim Street and southern areas of the city including the Nahda and Wahda districts.   

Major Eric Verzola said there had been no other air strikes by coalition forces apart from the initial strike by a fixed-wing aircraft.   

US and Iraqi forces moved into Diwaniyah on Friday, arresting nearly 30 militants and killing three fighters as part of the crackdown aimed at reining in Shiite militiamen who often also clash among themselves. The military said the operation was intended to disrupt militia activity and return control to the government.   

Over the past year, Diwaniyah has seen repeated clashes between the security forces and Shiite militias. Last August, nearly two dozen Iraqi soldiers and dozens of militiamen were killed. The city is riven with bitter political rivalry as militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clash with those linked to the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a formerly Iran-based Shiite group.   

In Baghdad, the US military announced that two more of its soldiers had been killed on Friday, taking its losses so far this month to 17. One of the soldiers was killed when a "shaped charge" detonated in an eastern part of capital.   

Such devices have been blamed for the deaths of at least 170 US service personnel since May 2004. The white-hot slug of molten metal they blast out when they explode can penetrate the armoured skins of troop carriers.   

The military said materials used to make the projectiles were discovered in Diwaniyah -- devices that the US military alleges are supplied to Iraq's Shiite militias by Iranian regime elements.