US-led forces say kill 11 in Iraqi Shi'ite city

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL036707.htm

US-led forces say kill 11 in Iraqi Shi'ite city

DIWANIYA, Iraq, Oct 10 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi troops killed 11 militants, many dressed as Iraqi policeman, in clashes around a mosque in the flashpoint southern Shi'ite city of Diwaniya on Monday night, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

The military said the fighting erupted after militants opened fire on a routine joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, but a senior representative of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the city said the troops had been trying to arrest him.

The fighting follows fierce street battles in the city. The U.S. military said 30 militants were killed and a U.S. tank severely damaged when U.S. and Iraqi troops entered Diwaniya on Sunday to detain a "high-value target".

The suspect was accused of involvement in the summary execution of 13 Iraqi soldiers who ran out of ammunition and were captured during a firefight with Shi'ite militiamen in the town in August.