Members of the Shiite Mehdi Army parade down a street in the southern Iraqi town of Basra November 28, 2006. Iraqi police raided strongholds of the Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday, hunting gunmen who battled with security forces a day earlier.

REUTERS/Atef Hassan

In Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Mehdi Army gunmen fought Iraqi security forces and U.S. special forces despite Sadr having renewed a six-month ceasefire last month. The cleric issued a statement at the weekend, however, saying they could defend themselves if attacked.

The commander of a quick reaction force in Kut, Lieutenant- Colonel Majid al-Amara, said the fighting was triggered by an attempt to arrest a Mehdi Army leader. He said 14 people were killed, including four gunmen, three children and a policemen.

The U.S. military gave a different account in a statement late on Tuesday. It said special forces had come to the aid of an Iraqi security patrol and come under attack by a large number of "suspected criminal militia fighters".

"The U.S. SF (special forces) returned fire, killing several enemy fighter and destroying two vehicles carrying machineguns," it said, adding a warplane had also destroyed a van suspected of transporting weapons and explosives.

Much of the fighting was reported to have died down by nightfall although sporadic shooting could still be heard.

Mehdi Army fighters have chafed at the extension of the ceasefire, complaining that it leaves them open to attack by U.S. forces and rival Shi'ite factions. The U.S. military says it only targets militiamen who are ignoring the ceasefire.

In separate clashes north of the capital, police said four Iraqi policemen, four gunmen and a civilian were killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in Mosul, which the U.S. military says is al Qaeda's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

In Dhuluiya, also north of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber killed five people, including three members of a neighborhood security unit, and wounded 14 in an attack on a checkpoint, police Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim al-Jubouri said.  Continued...