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Baghdad: Shiite militants fought US and Iraqi forces around Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City early on Saturday, killing 13, despite a call for calm by anti-American cleric Muqtada Al Sadr after the assassination of one of his top aides.
At least 13 Shiite militants died in the clashes, which erupted Friday night and tapered off early on Saturday, the US military said. Iraqi police reported seven civilians were killed as a result of the fighting between American and government troops and Al Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Al Sadr blamed the Americans and their Iraqi allies for Friday's assassination of Riyadh Al Nouri, the director of his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Gunmen ambushed al-Nouri as he was returning home from Friday prayers.
A curfew was declared in Najaf to prevent a violent backlash by Al Sadr supporters, but it was lifted Saturday.
In Sadr City, a US military statement said American soldiers used Abrams main battle tanks and drone-fired Hellfire missiles in support of troops who came under sniper and rocket attack while trying to erect concrete barriers in the area.
Two armoured vehicles were damaged by at least 10 roadside bombs that exploded during the operation, but there were no casualties among the US and Iraqi soldiers, the military said.
The US said a total of 13 extremists were killed in the various encounters.
Iraqi police and hospital officials said the seven civilians died in one of the Hellfire missile strikes.
Sadr City is the principal stronghold of the Mahdi Army in the Baghdad area. Government troops supported by the US military have been fighting for nearly two weeks to seal off Sadr City, which has a population of about 2.5 million, after militants there fired rockets and mortars at the US-protected Green Zone and other major targets.
A ban on entering and leaving the district was supposed to have been lifted on Saturday. Eyewitnesses said the blocked-off entrances were briefly opened at 9am, only to be closed again after about 10 minutes.
The conflict in Sadr City is part of a major power struggle within the Shiite community ahead of provincial elections expected this fall.
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