US troops bid to 'capture or kill' cleric

A 2,500-STRONG US force backed by tanks and artillery pushed to the outskirts of the Shi'ite city of Najaf last night for a showdown with radical Shi'ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Earlier, an American helicopter went down near Fallujah but there were no reported injuries to the crew.

At least 78 American troops were killed and 561 wounded in Iraq in the first 12 days of April, a senior army general said yesterday.

It is quickly becoming the deadliest month since the Iraq war began in March 2003. Since then, at least 674 American troops have died, according to the Pentagon's figures.

Near Fallujah, an insurgent said he hit the chopper with a rocket-propelled grenade, although Marine Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne said it was not known what caused the Sikorsky H-53 to go down.

Troops removed those on board and "there is no indication the crew was injured", Lt Col Byrne said. He was not certain how many were aboard.

The team that secured the craft was ambushed by gunmen using small weapons, RPGs and mortars, and it suffered casualties, Lt Col Byrne said.

Witnesses said four US soldiers were shot by insurgents at the site about 12 miles east of Fallujah in the village of Zawbaa.

Another team later blew up the aircraft to prevent it from being looted, he said.

Meanwhile, General John Abizaid, the top commander of US forces in the Middle East, said he has asked Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to adjust the US troop rotation into and out of Iraq so American commanders can have 10,000 more soldiers.

On the way to Najaf, the US force's 80-vehicle convoy was ambushed by gunmen firing small arms and setting of roadside bombs north of the city. One soldier was killed and an American civilian contractor was wounded, officers in the convoy said.

The top US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said their mission was to "capture or kill" radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Units set up a cordon on approaches to the city, barring militiamen from leaving.

Kidnappings and abductions are also spiralling in Iraq as the number of hostages captured by insurgents rose to more than 40 yesterday.