Six killed in raid on suspected militia hideouts

A joint US-Iraqi force backed with helicopter gunships clashed with suspected Shiite militiamen when they raided several homes in eastern Baghdad this morning, police said.

Six people were killed and ten wounded, they added.

Associated Press Television News video footage showed the funerals of the six being held at Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad district and a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The funeral processions set off from the local al-Sadr offices in Sadr City.

The footage also showed the site where the clashes took place, with several houses and at least one car on a narrow alley damaged, with some walls blackened and air conditioning units burnt. Small pools of blood could be seen on the alley and against the outer walls of the houses.

There was no immediate word on today’s clashes from the US military, but American and Iraqi troops have over recent months staged dozens of raids targeting Mahdi Army militiamen in Sadr City and other mainly Shiite districts of Baghdad.

The Mahdi Army militia is blamed for much of the sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital as well as attacks on US troops.