Iraq tightens security amid deadly clashes

Baghdad: Authorities imposed tighter security in Baghdad and Basra on Sunday amid deadly clashes between the military and Shiite militia.

A curfew was imposed in Baghdad for the third day, forcing pedestrians and vehicles off the streets. Shops, offices, schools and colleges were closed in the city.

In Basra, British forces have set up a checkpoint at a bridge. The US military also called in air strikes, which has killed at least 70 people since Friday.

More than 200 people have been killed since Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki's government launched an assault to root out rebels in Basra on Tuesday.

In Baghdad, the fighting, which subsided on Sunday, has focused in the eastern slum area of Sadr City, a Mehdi Army bastion.

The US military says troops are fighting "rogue" elements of the militia but residents say the battle is a head-on clash with the Mehdi Army.