US attacks

IRAQI forces backed by US aircraft battled militants in a Shi’ite stronghold of eastern Baghdad early yesterday, killing or wounding more than 30 fighters and capturing an extremist leader who was the target of the raid.

In another operation, Iraqi troops backed by US soldiers arrested a top regional commander of a Shi’ite militia near Hillah. The moves appeared part of a crackdown on sectarian militias blamed for the escalation in Shi’ite-Sunni violence that has led to fears of civil war.

The US military said the raid in eastern Baghdad was launched to apprehend “an insurgent leader responsible for numerous deaths of Iraqi citizens.”