U.S. military says kills 15 gunmen in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces said on Wednesday they had killed 15 gunmen overnight in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad, where fighting has raged for weeks between militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and security forces.

In a statement, the U.S. military said ground forces and aircraft had been involved in several attacks. The first began around dusk on Tuesday, the military said.

One hospital in Sadr City, the cleric's stronghold in eastern Baghdad, said it had received five bodies overnight from clashes and air strikes. It said 22 people had been wounded.

Hundreds have died in and around Sadr City since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on the cleric's Mehdi Army militia last month.

Sadr has demanded a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and threatened over the weekend to wage "open war" if Maliki did not call off the campaign against his fighters in Baghdad, the southern oil-hub of Basra and other Shi'ite areas.

Since Sadr issued his threat on Saturday, the U.S. military says it has killed around 65 militiamen in Sadr City and other Shi'ite parts of Baghdad. (Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)