Baghdad, (Xinhua) Six people were killed and 14 wounded Monday after Shia militiamen pounded a U.S. military base and a joint security centre in southern Iraq’s Diwaniyah city, some 180 km south of Baghdad, a police source said.
Militiamen of the Mahdi Army, loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, fired some dozen mortar rounds on the U.S.-run base and a nearby joint security centre, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The US troops at the base also traded mortar rounds with the attackers, the source said. Several houses and civilian cars were damaged in the clash.
The US military had no immediate comment on the incident.
Diwaniyah, the capital of the al-Qadsiyah province, has been a flashpoint for rival Shia factions battling for supremacy in the region. It has also seen heavy clashes between guerrillas and joint US and Iraqi security forces.