Reply #1: More than 30 killed in street battles in Baghdad's Sadr City, 6 US Soldier wounded

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD - Shiite militants ambushed a U.S. patrol in Baghdad's embattled Sadr City district on Tuesday and more than two dozen people were killed in the fighting, a U.S. military spokesman and Iraqi officials said. Six American soldiers were wounded.


The clashes broke out at 9:30 a.m. after U.S. troops were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover said. As the troops were leaving the area, a vehicle was hit with two roadside bombs, Stover said.

Officials at the Imam Ali and al-Sadr general hospitals said about 25 people had died, with several dozen wounded. The officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information, said most of the victims were civilians.

Stover said U.S. forces targeted gunmen in the area with rockets fired from a guided multiple-launch rocket system, which fires high-explosive warheads weighing 200 pounds. He said 28 extremists were killed.

"We have every right to defend ourselves," he said. "The problem is they're using houses, rooftops and alleyways (as cover)."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080429/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Aq3s2ihWAbdlGt53vMjpZ0hvaA8F