13 killed in clashes in Baghdad militia bastion

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — At least 13 people were killed in overnight clashes between Shiite militiamen and security forces in Baghdad's militia bastion of Sadr City, medics and witnesses said on Saturday.

Medics in two hospitals in the Shiite district confirmed the death toll and said 80 other people were also wounded, while witnesses said exchanges of fire could be heard throughout the night.

"There were sustained clashes in the night and mortar rounds were falling across the district," said one local resident from Sadr City, on condition of anonymity.

The US military earlier said it had killed two men in Sadr City early on Saturday.

At around 3:00 am, a US aerial weapons team (AWT) saw "two criminals with a mortar tube", the military said in a statement....