The US military said today it had killed five militants overnight in the east Baghdad slum of Sadr City, where
fighting has raged for weeks between Shia militiamen and security forces.
Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said US soldiers had shot and killed three militants last night after a US route clearance vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
In another incident, a US Apache helicopter fired a missile at gunmen in Sadr City who were carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, killing two, he said.
Hundreds have died in the Baghdad stronghold of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on his Mehdi Army militia last month.
Sadr has demanded a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and threatened over the weekend to wage "open war" if Maliki did not call off the campaign against his fighters in Baghdad, the southern oil-hub of Basra and other Shia areas.
Since Sadr issued his threat on Saturday, the US military says it has killed around 50 militiamen in Sadr City and other Shia parts of Baghdad.