19 killed and scores injured in Baghdad clashes

Baghdad: Nineteen people have been killed and 116 wounded in clashes between security forces and rebels in Sadr City in the past 24 hours, hospital officials said on Saturday.

Women and children were among the wounded, officials from the hospitals said.

Intense fighting has ensued between gunmen loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and US and Iraqi soldiers.

Fighting has flared in Baghdad since Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki ordered a crackdown on militias in late March.