Several believed dead in US air raids in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Several people were believed killed on Tuesday in two US air strikes in the Baghdad bastion of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, an AFP photographer and witnesses said.
"Four houses have been heavily damaged," a resident of the Sadr City district said on condition of anonymity.
Pictures taken by an AFP photographer showed completely destroyed houses and a number of bodies buried in the debris.
Another witness said US forces launched the first air strike at around 1:30 pm (1030 GMT) in the southern section of Sadr City.
"As a group of people came to rescue those buried in the collapsed houses, another air strike hit them," the witness said.
The US military was not immediately available to comment on the reports.
It said earlier that its soldiers killed 24 militants in fierce clashes in Sadr City on Tuesday.
The fighting erupted at around 9:30 am (0630 GMT) when a US patrol was targeted with small arms fire, it said, adding that four US soldiers were wounded.
