US soldier dies in raid on radical cleric

Coalition forces raided buildings used by a militia loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in two southern Iraqi cities today in fighting that killed 15 Iraqis and an American soldier

The heaviest fighting in the south came in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, where coalition forces raided a hotel, the local former Baath Party headquarters and the regional governor’s office, where fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had been stockpiling weapons, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said.