US soldiers, militia exchange fire in south Iraq

Fighters from the Shi'ite Mehdi Army and US soldiers exchanged rocket and mortar fire, threatening a ceasefire declared by the militia's leader, the anti-US cleric Moqtada al Sadr.

Sadr, whose militia fought two battles against U.S. forces in southern Iraq in 2004, extended a ceasefire last month, but at the weekend issued a statement telling followers they could defend themselves if attacked.

The ceasefire has been praised by US commanders for reducing violence, with attacks across Iraq down by 60 percent since last June. But US forces are stretched thin by an increase in attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq since January.

There were no reports of clashes involving Mehdi Army fighters elsewhere in Iraq, suggesting the Kut exchanges were isolated to that city.

An Iraqi police official, who asked not to be identified, said as many as 11 Katyusha rockets landed on the US base near Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad late yesterday.

Police described the attackers as gunmen but residents said they were Mehdi Army fighters.

Two Iraqi men, who police and witnesses said were brothers, were killed and four others, including a 6-year-old girl, were wounded when US soldiers fired mortar rounds after the rocket attack, the police official said.

A US military spokeswoman said the Americans responded after four rockets were fired at the base. She had no information about civilian casualties but said no US soldiers were hurt in the exchange.

Iraqi police said the rockets were fired from Kut's Shuhada district, one of four Mehdi Army strongholds raided by Iraqi police on Wednesday, a day after Sadr's militia clashed with security forces.

A Reuters witness saw police checkpoints set up at intersections around Shuhada on Thursday but there was no sign of gunmen or clashes.

Luwaa Sumaisem, a senior Sadrist member in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, said the clashes began on Tuesday after a disagreement between Iraqi security forces and a group of mourners, some of whom were Mehdi Army members. "This dispute developed into clashes. We call on all the parties to calm down and keep the situation in Kut stable," Sumaisem told Reuters by telephone.