By Xinhua
Baghdad : The U.S. military said on Sunday that its troops and aircraft killed six suspected militants during an early morning raid in Baghdad’s eastern neighborhood of Sadr City.
The troops initially targeted a Special Groups member specializing in kidnapping operations, the military said in a statement.
The Special Groups are Shiite militia extremists who are funded, trained and armed by external sources, specifically by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force operatives.
Based on intelligence reports, the targeted individual “is a well-known cell leader and has previously sought funding from Iranto carry out high profile kidnappings,” the statement added.
During searching a series of buildings in the area, the troops fought militiamen armed with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades from nearby structures and later called in aerial support, killing six militants, it said.
Earlier, an Interior Ministry source said that at least 13 people were killed and up to 52 others wounded when U.S. aircraft struck residential areas in the Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Sadr City.
During the operation, fierce clashes broke out between the U.S. troops and militants believed to be Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the source said, adding that the attack also resulted in the destruction of several houses, shops and civilian cars.
Previously, the U.S. military said the Special Groups have evolved over the past three years into what are largely rogue elements that use a cellular structure to operate independently.
The U.S. forces frequently accuse Iran of arming and training Iraqi militias to stir up chaos in the war-torn country. But Iran denies.
Sadr City is a stronghold of Sadr’s Mahdi Army, who declared recently a six-month freeze of armed activities for his militia.