U.S. and Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militiamen today in the southern city of Diwaniyah after a raid on the home of a leader of the Mahdi Army, accused of killing Sunnis in Iraq's spiral of sectarian violence.
The U.S. military said 30 militiamen were killed in the fighting, which came about two months after a similar battle in the predominantly Shiite city, 80 miles south of Baghdad. Officials from the party of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which heads the militia denied any of their fighters were killed.
A U.S. Abrams tank was seriously damaged when it was hammered by rocket-propelled grenades, but no casualties were reported among the U.S. or Iraqi forces.
U.S. troops have been stepping up pressure on the Mahdi Army in past weeks, launching raids on the militia's members and leaders in Baghdad and elsewhere as part of an intensified sweep in the capital aimed at reducing mounting bloodshed.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4244080.html
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