US air strike kills 5 militiamen in south Iraq

BAGHDAD, July 12 (Reuters) A US air strike killed five militiamen today who were planting a roadside bomb in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniya, a military spokesman said.

A police official in the Shi'ite city said five members of the Mehdi Army militia of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had been killed.

The police official and a hospital source said five civilians who were nearby at the time were also killed. The US military spokesman said ''there were no civilian casualties reported''.

''The Coalition engaged six anti-Iraq force members placing an IED (improvised explosive device) on a road. Initial reports indicate five of the six were killed in the strike,'' the spokesman said in response to questions from Reuters.

The police official said the air strike took place just after midnight, while the military spokesman called it a pre-dawn attack.

Sadr's political office in Diwaniya said five of its fighters had been ''martyred''.

There have been several clashes recently between the Mehdi Army and American forces in Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad.

REUTERS AE DS1255