By Xinhua
Baghdad : The US military said Saturday that 26 militants – believed to have ties with "Iranian terror network" – were killed during raids on Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City Saturday.
"Coalition forces conducted two separate raids targeting suspected secret terrorists cell in Sadr City early morning," the military said in a statement.
It said that the US soldiers faced "significant" resistance, including roadside bombs, small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, during the raids.
The US troops also detained 17 suspected militants without suffering any casualty, according to the statement.
It suggested that the suspected terrorists "have close ties to Iranian terror networks and are responsible for facilitating the flow of lethal aid into Iraq".
However, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source said that US helicopter bombed a residential area in the Habibiyah area in the Sadr City after a patrol came under small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.
He said that the incident killed four residents there and injured 16 others.
But the incident was not officially confirmed.
Sadr City is a stronghold of Mahdi Army militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The US military frequently accuses Iran of providing Iraqi Shia militia with weapons and parts for sophisticated armoured-piercing bombs, which has been denied by Iran.
US and Iraqi security forces have stuck to a security plan in the capital since Feb 14 with an aim of putting rampant violence under control.