U.S. says 32 militiamen killed in Sadr City raids

updated 8:07 p.m. ET Aug. 8, 2007

BAGHDAD - U.S. aircraft and soldiers attacked Shiite militia bomb makers accused of links to Iran in raids Wednesday that coincided with a visit to Tehran by Iraq’s prime minister. The U.S. military said 32 suspected militants were killed and 12 were captured.

The strike in Sadr City — a major Shiite enclave in Baghdad — sought to target a ring believed to be smuggling armor-piercing roadside bombs from Iran. The precision-crafted explosives have become a growing threat to American troops, and the Pentagon has struggled to find ways to protect vehicles against their deadly power.

The sweep into Sadr City also sent a strong message that U.S. forces plan no letup on suspected Shiite militia cells despite risks of upsetting the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and its efforts at closer cooperation with Shiite heavyweight Iran.

Tehran has denied support for the violence in Iraq. Al-Maliki, on a state visit seeking both security cooperation and more electricity from his neighbor, had no immediate comment on the raids.

The U.S. military said 32 suspected militiamen were killed and 12 captured. But Iraqi police and witnesses said the raids killed nine civilians, including two women, and wounded six others, and made no mention of militants. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

The reason for the discrepancies in the U.S. military and local accounts was not immediately clear.

Preventing all-out civil war
Across Baghdad, meanwhile, devout Shiites massed for a huge annual pilgrimage Thursday. Police clamped on tight security to shield them from possible attacks from Sunni insurgents working to provoke an all-out civil war between Iraq’s main Muslim groups.

The American push into Sadr City highlighted the growing complications as more Shiite factions break apart and carve out their own agendas.

The main target was fighters from a breakaway faction of the powerful Mahdi Army, which appears to be fracturing as its leader, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, loses his tight grip. The splinter group served as a liaison between Iraqi fighters and Iran’s elite Quds Force, the U.S. military said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces came under sporadic small-arms fire as they moved into Sadr City, a teeming grid of stores and shops in northeastern Baghdad. Troops killed two armed men believed to be lookouts and then detained 12 militia fighters, the U.S. military said.

U.S. helicopters and warplanes then struck after spotting a large group of armed men on foot who were trying to attack the American ground forces. An estimated 30 militants were killed in the air attack, the U.S. military said.

Afterward, crying neighborhood women shrouded in black accused the Americans of attacking civilians.

The No. 2 U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, has stepped up accusations against Iran in recent days, saying rogue Shiite militants aided by Tehran carried out 73 percent of the attacks that killed or wounded American troops in Baghdad in July.

The sophisticated bombs — which send a blast of superheated molten metal — accounted for a third of U.S. combat deaths in July, according to the military.

The renewed focus on Iranian-backed militias comes even as the U.S. military has claimed some success in combating the other major source of attacks in Iraq — Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaida in Iraq.

U.S. forces have made important strides by enlisting the help of Sunni tribal leaders and others angered by al-Qaida in Iraq’s tactics, such as taking control of lucrative smuggling routes and attacking civilians.

In the western Anbar province — once a virtual fiefdom of al-Qaida — attacks against U.S. forces have sharply declined, the military reports. In Fallujah, for example, attacks were down to below 30 in June compared with more than 90 as recently as May, according to military figures cited in a draft report for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies by Anthony Cordesman, a former Pentagon analyst.

Yet fear of possible Sunni attacks were behind the strict security measures in Baghdad as pilgrims gathered.

A curfew was in effect until early Saturday and soldiers were deployed about 100 yards apart on streets in western Baghdad. Traffic was barred by barbed wire and warning signs.

By Wednesday morning, some 1,500 pilgrims had already passed through one of several checkpoints into the area around a shrine in the northern Baghdad area of Kazimiyah where the pilgrims are headed, according to an Iraqi police lieutenant who identified himself only as Fadil, because of security concerns.

More from msnbc.com When's Palin leaving? Take our weekly quiz Looking at China unrest from Mongolian perch Adventures in Cancerland: Lust for life Red Tape: Credit card firms' new squeeze Elkhart Blog: Making sure health care isn't casualty

MORE FROM CONFLICT IN IRAQ

Conflict in Iraq Section Front

U.S. releases Iranian officials held in Iraq Bombing outside Iraqi church kills 4 Two separate bomb blasts kill 8 in Iraq Experts: Iraq invasion harmed Babylon Worst violence since U.S. pullback hits Iraq U.S. releases 5 Iranian officials in Iraq Army's new mission: To exit Iraq Conflict in Iraq Section Front   Add Conflict in Iraq headlines to your news reader: