Clashes in Baghdad Shiite bastion kill five

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Clashes between Shiite fighters and US forces in Sadr City, Baghdad bastion of the powerful Mahdi Army militia, killed at least five people and wounded 10, security officials said Sunday.

The firefights started around midnight (2100 GMT Saturday) and continued sporadically until after dawn, defence and interior ministry officials said.

"At least five people were killed and 10 wounded in the fighting," a defence ministry official said.

The clashes come days before a protest on April 9 in Sadr City called by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr against the presence of US forces in Iraq, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein's regime.

Sadr's office says it expects at least one million people to turn...