U.S. and Iraqi forces killed at least 13 gunmen in heavy battles overnight around Baghdad's Sadr City, the U.S. military said on Saturday, but authorities went ahead and eased a two-week-old blockade of the slum.
Cars were allowed in and out of Sadr City through some entrances, although other routes remained blocked and the sound of fighting was still audible on Saturday morning.
A U.S. military statement described a "complex" battle in the slum, a stronghold of militiamen loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Residents described the clashes as among the worst fighting there since Iraqi forces launched an offensive into the area a week ago.
The Sadr City fighting, we well as fierce battles in the southern city of Basra between security forces and Sadr's Mehdi Army militia late last month, has thrust the Iraq war back onto the centre stage of the U.S. presidential election campaign.
U.S. forces fired at least one Hellfire missile from drone aircraft and two rounds from the main battle gun of an M1 tank against fighters who targeted them with roadside bombs, rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the military said.
"No U.S. or Iraqi army soldiers were seriously injured and we went on to complete our mission," Major John Gossart, executive officer of the battalion involved in the fighting, said in a statement.
Police said seven people had been killed and 17 wounded in the overnight fighting. Sadr City's two hospitals said they received at least 33 wounded.
Despite the fighting, the Iraqi government's Baghdad security spokesman, Major-General Qassim Moussawi, said the situation was stable and the overnight clashes would not interfere with long awaited plans to lift the blockade.
"If more such clashes take place, we will deal with them by raiding the targets in an intelligent way," he said, adding that some roads were still shut to clear away bombs.
The blockade has led to skyrocketing food prices and days of claustrophobia for residents in the densely populated slum, which is under nightly bombardment. Residents said they were relieved to get out but wary about the future.
