U.S. troops, Shiite militants battle in Baghdad; 19 killed

By Ned Parker
Times Staff Writer

9:58 AM PDT, July 12, 2007

BAGHDAD — Clashes between U.S. troops and Shiite Muslim militants in eastern Baghdad left 19 people dead and 21 wounded today, police and hospital officials said.

The fighting in the capital's Amin district was sparked by a U.S. raid before dawn that the military said apprehended two militants suspected of carrying out kidnappings and bombings. Armed men retaliated by firing rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. troops.

American forces returned to Amin later in the morning, triggering a shootout and a barrage of mortar fire, police said.

Nine of the dead Iraqis were gunmen, and the rest were civilians, a police officer said. An Iraqi photographer and driver employed by Reuters news service died in the violence, the London-based news agency said. Hospital officials identified them as photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40.

The two militants detained during the initial raid were members of "the special groups," an offshoot of radical cleric Muqtada Sadr's Al Mahdi Army, the military said. U.S. officials think the groups are being supported by Iran.

Since the spring, U.S. troops have intensified their raids in Shiite sections of Baghdad, hunting for leaders in Al Mahdi-affiliated groups thought to be involved in sectarian killings.

A suicide bomber attacked a wedding party today in Tall Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, killing four civilians and wounding five others, said police chief Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Jubouri. Tall Afar has been plagued by attacks on its Shiite population by Sunni extremists.

A U.S. soldier died today in an attack east of Baghdad, the military said, but gave no further details.

At least 3,611 U.S. military personnel have been killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, according to the website icasualties.org, which tracks deaths and injuries in the conflict.

ned.parker@latimes.com