US military says kills nearly 30 militants in Iraq

BAGHDAD, July 11 (Reuters) US and Iraqi forces killed 20 suspected al Qaeda in Iraq militants in a two-day operation north of Baghdad this week, the US military said today.

The military also said eight suspected militants were killed during raids in eastern Baghdad on Monday.

In a statement, the military said the operation north of Baghdad targeted al Qaeda leadership members near the town of Sherween in volatile Diyala province. It said 20 al Qaeda militants were also detained.

The operation began early yesterday with aircraft dropping bombs on three river crossings and one bridge to prevent militants from escaping, the statement said. It said the locations were also used by al Qaeda to conduct attacks.

It said residents of Sherween ''played a vital role in this operation as they fought side-by-side'' with the Iraqi security forces to help them capture and kill militants.

The statement did not elaborate but members of some Sunni Arab tribes in Diyala along with members of Sunni Arab insurgent groups that have previously fought American troops have joined with Iraqi security forces to fight al Qaeda.

Sunni Islamist al Qaeda has fallen out with some insurgent groups it previously cooperated with partly over its indiscriminate killing of civilians and harsh interpretation of Islam.

In eastern Baghdad on Monday, US troops killed eight members of a ''criminal militia'' suspected of setting roadside bombs as well as firing mortars and rockets from Sadr City, bastion of the Mehdi Army militia of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

US troops opened fire after being attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, the military said.

Multiple rocket and mortar attacks have been launched from eastern Baghdad in recent weeks at the heavily fortified Green Zone compound, which houses the Iraqi government and the American embassy.

A barrage killed three people yesterday including a US military service member, the US embassy said.

REUTERS SYU PM2315