This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7315937.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
US carries out air strike in Iraq | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A number of people have been killed in a US air strike in support of Iraqi forces fighting Shia militants in the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad. | |
US forces said four militants were killed, but Iraqi security sources have given casualty estimates ranging from 11 to up to 60 dead. | |
It comes after days of fighting sparked by an Iraqi crackdown on militias in the southern city of Basra. | |
The violence has spread to Baghdad and Kut, and more than 70 people have died. | |
Hundreds of people are said to have been injured. | |
Helicopter strike | |
A US forces spokeswoman, Major Allayne Conway, said US helicopters had responded to a call for help from special police units in Hilla on Wednesday. | |
"The Hilla SWAT guys were on the ground. They were engaged. Our attack helicopters were called in. They engaged," she said. | |
The four dead were said to be "special group criminals", a term the US military uses to refer to breakaway cells of the radical Shia militia, the Mehdi army. | |
The head of the Mehdi army, radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, has spoken of the possibility of negotiations to end the violence. | |
On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki gave Shia militants in Basra 72 hours to lay down their arms or face "severe penalties". | On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki gave Shia militants in Basra 72 hours to lay down their arms or face "severe penalties". |