US troops raid cleric stronghold

American forces raided radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s stronghold in Baghdad and killed five suspected militia fighters in air strikes today, a day after he resurfaced to end nearly four months in hiding and demand US troops leave Iraq, .

US and Iraqi forces called in the air strikes in Sadr City, after a raid in which they captured a “suspected terrorist cell leader,” the US military said in statement.