Iraq: Sporadic Clashes Reported in Baghdad's Sadr City Despite Truce Deal

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12 May 2008 -- The U.S. military in Iraq says it has killed three gunmen who attacked American patrols in Baghdad's Sadr City district despite a ceasefire deal for the district.

U.S. officials reported several incidents Sunday evening and Monday morning.

US soldiers enter Sadr City, March, 2007: US Army photo

Residents of Sadr City say the overall level of violence has dropped since Iraq's government announced the ceasefire deal on Saturday.

The truce was negotiated by Iraq's main Shi'ite political bloc and representatives of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. His militia has a stronghold in Sadr City.

Fighting in that district has killed hundreds of people since late March when Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on armed Shi'ite factions.

The U.S. military has said repeatedly that it is fighting rogue elements of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The bulk of Sadr's forces are believed to have been adhering to a general ceasefire ordered by the cleric last August.

Also Monday, Kurdish officials said Turkish warplanes bombed suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq for a third straight night.

They said the strikes occurred in a remote part of Iraq's Dahuk province near the Turkish border.

In a separate incident, the U.S. military said a U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in northwestern Baghdad Sunday night.

Source: VOA News