U.S. troops, helicopters battle gunmen in Baghdad

By Dean Yates and Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces backed by attack helicopters fought gunmen in Baghdad in a day-long battle on Tuesday, in the fiercest fighting in the capital since a major security crackdown was launched in February.

The U.S. military said four Iraqi soldiers were killed and 16 American soldiers wounded. Three gunmen were killed, it said in a statement. Police said 10 people had died.

Two helicopters were also hit by ground fire but both returned to base, the U.S. military said.

Northeast of Baghdad, a woman suicide bomber strapped with explosives under her traditional dress killed 17 recruits outside a police station in the town of Muqdadiya, police said.

And in southern Iraq, British troops battled gunmen in the volatile city of Basra after coming under fire during a routine search operation, the British military said. A military spokesman said 10 enemy fighters were hit.

Two witnesses including a local journalist said Apache attack helicopters hovering low over the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fadhil in Baghdad repeatedly fired rockets at buildings where gunmen had holed up.

The military statement said one helicopter had attacked gunmen with machinegun fire.

The witnesses said they saw several bodies lying in a street, with residents too afraid to move them. Other bodies had been moved to a local mosque, said the local journalist, Abu Omar, who is a resident of Fadhil.