US helicopters attack militants in Sadr City

Iraqi police said today that US helicopters are engaging Shiite militants in Baghdad’s embattled Sadr City district.

Two people have been killed and 12 injured in clashes between joint Iraqi-American forces and fighters of the Mahdi Army of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

An officer who declined to identify himself because he was not authorised to speak to the media said four of the injured in the clashes early this morning were young children.

The sprawling district with over two million inhabitants has seen continuous clashes between Shiite militants and Iraqi and US forces in the past month.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, police say a suicide bomber blew up a security checkpoint in the eastern neighbourhood of Zayouna killing two Iraqi soldiers and injuring five.