Five killed in clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City

Baghdad: Overnight clashes in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City has left five militants dead, the US military said on Tuesday.

US soldiers backed by a tank shot and killed three fighters late on Monday after a US vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

In another incident, a US helicopter fired a missile at gunmen in Sadr City, killing two.

Clashes have escalated in the stronghold of Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr after he threatened to wage "open war" if the government did not call off a crackdown on his Mahdi Army.