Iraqi troops backed by US helicopters fight militants

Baghdad: Iraqi troops backed by US attack helicopters fought militants in central Baghdad yesterday when figures showed a sharp leap in the number of Iraqis who died violently in November.

Two Apache helicopters firing anti-missile flares swooped over Fadhil neighbourhood, a Sunni insurgent stronghold in one of the oldest parts of the capital, amid the slow thump of heavy machinegun fire, witnesses said.

On the ground US and Iraqi troops, raiding the area's narrow alleyways in a hunt for insurgent hideouts, clashed with gunmen who killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded five, an Interior Ministry official said.

The Defence Ministry said 43 people were detained and a house was found that appeared to be a guerrilla field hospital.

While Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki received strong backing from US President George W. Bush yesterday, he remains under pressure to get tougher with Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias who have created virtual no-go zones in the capital and are blamed for thousands of deaths.

Data from Interior Ministry officials showed a 44 per cent leap in civilian casualties in November compared with October. The increase, to 1,850 deaths, was matched by a 45 per cent rise in the number of civilian deaths tallied by Reuters.

Car bombing

They included the 202 people killed in last week's multiple car bombing in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr city, the worst attack since the US invasion in 2003.

The violence has its epicentre in Baghdad, despite thousands of US troops being poured into the capital to help the Iraqi army regain control of the streets from sectarian death squads through search and clear operations.

The US military said yesterday's operation by the 9th Iraqi Army Division and US soldiers in Fadhil was aimed at "capturing and denying a safe haven to terrorist forces".

"The targets of these raids are believed to be regularly killing innocent Iraqis and have an active campaign designed to disrupt the peace and stability of the region," it said.