BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militants during a raid Friday in the southern holy city of Karbala in which they captured a militia commander accused of orchestrating attacks on Iraqi officials and American troops.
In political developments, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, chastised Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc for suspending participation in the Cabinet this week, saying the bloc has "shown sympathy, if not outright support, for terrorist forces," including affiliates of Al Qaeda.
The U.S. military said in a statement that Iraqi security forces and U.S. Special Forces who were pursuing "rogue" Shiite Muslim militia leaders in Karbala were attacked by militants firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from three locations. With the help of an attack helicopter, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed about 17 insurgents, the statement said.
Soldiers detained three suspects, including an Al Mahdi militia commander who was in charge of an "assassination cell" of more than 100 militants suspected of killing two Iraqi government officials and attacking U.S. forces with roadside bombs and armor-penetrating explosive devices, the statement said.
No Iraqi civilians were in the area at the time of the raid, the military said.
But witnesses said at least nine people were killed and 28 injured in the clashes, including five civilians and four Shiite militants. The civilians killed included a woman and two children, witnesses said.
They said the shooting erupted after a municipal guard, not recognizing as Americans the men who dropped from aircraft under cover of darkness, fired at them as they approached. Iraqi police seemed to vanish from the streets after that, witnesses said.
Witnesses said U.S. soldiers attempted to detain Sheik Razzaq Aridh, an Al Mahdi leader, but couldn't find him at his house and eventually detained Firas Sammach, a midlevel militia leader, and his brother.
They said Al Mahdi fighters evacuated their wounded to Husseini Hospital and forced doctors to treat them. U.S. forces approached, trading gunfire until the militants were forced to flee the hospital, witnesses said.
Later in the day, Iraqi officials arrived in Karbala, about 50 miles southwest of Baghdad, to investigate.
