U.S. forces say kill 34 militants in Baghdad

By Tim Cocks and Dean Yates

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces said they killed 34 militiamen in a Baghdad stronghold of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday in a series of clashes including one street battle that raged for four hours.

Doctors at the two hospitals in the Iraqi cleric's bastion of Sadr City said they had received the bodies of 21 people killed and 62 wounded. Women and children were among the casualties, they said.

Reuters Television footage showed firemen pulling the body of a young boy, covered in dust, from the rubble of a house that had been destroyed. It was unclear what had hit the building. The body of another child was seen being brought to a hospital.

Six U.S. soldiers were wounded overall, the military said.

Security forces have been fighting militiamen loyal to the anti-American cleric for weeks in the Sadr City slum but the latest battles mark an escalation of the conflict.

Fighting has flared since Sunday when gunmen used the cover of dust storms to attack U.S. and Iraqi positions, despite a call by Sadr to observe a shaky truce he has threatened to scrap unless the government ends raids on his Mehdi Army militia.

The attacks by militants indicate some fighters claiming allegiance to Sadr are ignoring his call for a truce to be observed, raising questions about how far he controls them and whether he is sincere about wanting to defuse the conflict.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said there had been no air strikes in Sadr City but troops had used ground-based multiple-launch guided rockets, which had struck militants firing from buildings, alleys and roofs.