Three die as troops storm mosque
In the battle for control of Mosul, Iraqi forces raided several areas overnight, killing 15 insurgents.
At least 13 other insurgents were captured in Mosul, authorities said.
About 40 people were arrested at the Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's north-western Azamiyah neighbourhood, said the witnesses, who were members of the congregation. Another five people were wounded.
It appeared the raid at Abu Hanifa mosque, long associated with anti-American activity, was part of the crackdown on Sunni clerical militants launched in parallel with military operations against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
On Thursday, the Iraqi government warned that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered as "participating in terrorism". A number of them already have been arrested, including several members of the Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars, which spoke out against the US-led offensive against Fallujah.
"The government is determined to pursue those who incite acts of violence. A number of mosques' clerics who have publicly called for taking the path of violence have been arrested and will be legally tried," said Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's spokesman, Thair al-Naqeeb.
US troops also raided a Sunni Muslim mosque in Qaim, near the Syrian border, a cleric said, calling it retaliation for opposing the Fallujah offensive. Imam Maudafar Abdul Wahab said his mosque was gathering food and supplies to send to Fallujah, and US troops took about $2,000 meant for repair of his mosque.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, a suicide car bomber rammed into a police patrol, killing one policeman and injuring as many as 10 other people, including policemen, authorities said.
The US casualty toll in the Fallujah offensive stands at 51 dead and about 425 wounded. An estimated 1,200 insurgents have been killed, with about 1,025 enemy fighters detained.
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