April 29, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1429

BAGHDAD, April 28: Fierce clashes between Shia militiamen and US and Iraqi forces in eastern Baghdad killed at least 45 people over the past 24 hours, the American military said on Monday.

It said an aerial weapons team (AWT) and a M1A2 Abrams Tank crew killed seven “criminals” in the Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital on Monday after its soldiers came under attack with small-arms fire.

A Hellfire missile fired by the AWT team and shelling by the tank crew killed the seven at around 3:10 pm (1210 GMT), it said.

Another 38 militiamen were killed on Sunday, including 22 in one of the heaviest clashes in weeks, when militiamen blasted Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone with rockets and mortars, taking advantage of a blinding dust storm that grounded US attack helicopters.

The biggest clash in the day-long battles came at dusk on Sunday when “a large group of criminals engaging with small-arms fire” attacked a security forces checkpoint, a US military statement said.

“US soldiers used 120 mm fire from M1A12 Abrams tanks and small-arms fire to kill ... 22 criminals, forcing remaining enemy forces present to retreat,” the military said.

Abbas Abdul Hussein, a resident of Sadr City who witnessed the attack, said it had come at the height of the sandstorm.

“The militiamen took advantage of the storm. They knew there were no helicopters watching them, so they attacked US troops near the checkpoint,” said Hussein.

At about the same time, seven fighters who ambushed a patrol were killed by US troops.

Other gunmen died in various skirmishes during the day when troops retaliated after being attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the military said.

Most of the fighting took place in Sadr City, the Baghdad bastion of the Mahdi Army militia of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who claim they are being deliberately targeted. US and Iraqi commanders said they were trying to halt rocket attacks from Sadr City on the Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and US embassy were based, by Iranian-backed militiamen using Iranian-supplied weaponry.

Tehran strongly denies any involvement.

—AFP