50 militants killed in Baghdad - Iraq official

BAGHDAD, Jan 9 (Reuters) Fifty militants were killed in central Baghdad in clashes between gunmen and US and Iraqi forces today, a Defence Ministry official said.

Major General Ibrahim Shakir told Reuters 21 militants were also arrested in the operation in Haifa Street, a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold, where violence has claimed the lives of 100 people since Saturday. A spokesman for the US military said it had no ''battle assessment'' on Haifa Street on Tuesday.

REUTERS SSC RN1932