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US kills '25 militants' in Iraq US kills '25 militants' in Iraq
(about 2 hours later)
US forces in Iraq have killed 25 suspected insurgents in heavy fighting near Baquba, the US military has said.US forces in Iraq have killed 25 suspected insurgents in heavy fighting near Baquba, the US military has said.
The military said the target of the operation had been a Shia militia commander linked to the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.The military said the target of the operation had been a Shia militia commander linked to the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The militants opened fire on the US troops with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, it added.The militants opened fire on the US troops with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, it added.
The US has accused the Quds Force of helping arm Shia militant groups in Iraq. Iran denies any involvement. The US has accused the Quds Force of helping arm Shia militant groups in Iraq. Iran denies this.
US aircraft assisted in the American operation, bombing the area, destroying two buildings.
Increased tensions
BBC Baghdad correspondent Jon Brain says that tensions between the two countries have been heightened since the arrest by the US last month of Iranian national Mahmudi Farhadi.
He is one of five Iranians detained in Iraq in recent months.
Lt Gen Raymond Odierno, the US second-in-command in the Iraq, has told the Washington that he will recommend that the five Iranians held by US forces in Iraq should not be released when their cases are reviewed later this month.
"Militarily, we should hold them," he told the Washington post.
US military officials have also announced the death of a US soldier by small arms fire during operations in the south of Baghdad. The soldier died on Thursday.
More than 3,800 members of the US military who have died since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.