US forces clash with Iraqi militia, 9 killed-police

BAGHDAD, July 7 (Reuters) Up to nine people were killed in clashes between US troops and the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in eastern Baghdad early today, police and witnesses said.

An Interior Ministry source said the clashes erupted when US forces raided houses in the slum district of Sadr City, a stronghold, of Sadr's Mehdi Army. There was no immediate comment from the US military.

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