34 die as American forces clash with rebel Shi’ite cleric’s gunmen

US forces battled insurgents loyal to Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City yesterday in fierce clashes that killed 34 people, including one American soldier, and wounded 193.

US tanks moved into the neighbourhood and armoured personnel carriers and Bradley fighting vehicles were deployed at key intersections. Ambulances with sirens wailing rushed the wounded to hospitals as plumes of black smoke rose over the mainly Shi’ite neighbourhood.

Warplanes flew over the sprawling neighbourhood of more than two million, firing flares to avoid being hit by anti-aircraft missiles.