A clash in Baghdad between Iraqi police and Shia militiamen, on the one side, and Sunni insurgents, has left 19 people dead, reports say.
According to one report, 17 of the dead were Shia militiamen and two were members of the Iraqi police. The AFP news agency says that fighters from the Mehdi Army had requested help in recovering a comrade being held by Sunni insurgents. The Mehdi Army is a militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. There was no immediate information on casualties on the insurgent side.
UPDATED BODY COUNT: BAGHDAD, Oct 27 (Reuters) - At least 21 Shi'ite militia fighters and two policemen were killed on Thursday when they clashed with Sunni Arab insurgents southeast of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. Another five policemen and 12 members of the Mehdi army loyal to nationalist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were wounded in the battle, which erupted after they tried to rescue a Mehdi Army member who was being held hostage, the official said. "At least 21 members of the Mehdi Army were killed in the fight," a source in Sadr's office told Reuters. There was no immediate information on insurgent casualties in the battle in Nahrawan, southeast of Baghdad, an area with a mixed Sunni and Shi'ite population. |