Militiaman loyal to an anti-US Shiite cleric controlled large swathes of three Iraqi cities today after clashes with US-led coalition forces, while US marines backed by airstrikes fought insurgents for the second day around a mosque in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Fallujah.

A US Black Hawk medivac helicopter crashed yesterday near Fallujah, the stronghold of the anti-American insurgency, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the US military said. A witness said the helicopter was hit in the tail by a rocket.

The US army’s claim that 54 Iraqis were killed in two deadly ambushes in the northern town of Samarra was disputed by Iraqi residents today.