U.S. and Iraqi troops killed 30 militants early on Sunday in fierce fighting in the flashpoint southern Shi'ite city of Diwaniya, the U.S. military said.
The military said an M1A2 Abrams tank was severely damaged in the battle that erupted after militants opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades on U.S. and Iraqi forces on a mission to detain a "high-value" target.
Diwaniya's southern districts are a stronghold for the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose movement is a key player in the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government of national unity.
A Mehdi Army official, who declined to be named, denied any involvement in the fighting and blamed rogue gunmen. He said Sadr had issued orders to the Mehdi Army "not to attack anybody, including the Americans".
Another Mehdi Army official denied reports of the 30 killed and said only three people had been wounded. Hospital sources said four civilians were wounded, three men and a woman.
Maliki, under increasing pressure from Washington, has vowed to crack down on militias, which are blamed for much of the violence fuelling the Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian conflict.
"An M1A2 Abrams tank was struck by multiple RPG rounds and was severely damaged," the U.S. military statement said. "IA and MND-B soldiers engaged the enemy forces and killed approximately 30 of the terrorists," it said, adding that Iraqi and U.S. troops had suffered no casualties.
"Reportedly, up to 10 enemy RPG teams attacked the combined forces, of which six teams were destroyed," it said.
By midday, Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, was reported to be quiet, but there was a heavy U.S. military presence.
"There is an American tank on every corner of Diwaniya," said one resident, who declined to be named.
"Nobody slept in Diwaniya last night. The fighting was very fierce," he added.
U.S. and Iraqi troops have launched numerous operations in recent weeks against the Mehdi Army in their hunt for sectarian death squads accused of carrying out indiscriminate killings.
High-value target
The U.S. military statement said the high-value target, whom it did not name, had been captured by Iraqi troops during the operation.
It said the suspect was accused of involvement in the deaths of Iraqi soldiers on Aug. 28, when 20 soldiers were killed in a battle with Shi'ite militiamen in the city.
At least 13 were reported at the time to have been executed after they ran out of ammunition.
A Reuters News Agency reporter in the city heard machinegun fire from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m on Sunday as well as the sound of helicopter gunships overhead. Residents reported seeing the tank on fire.
Iraqi soldiers fired into the air on Sunday to chase away reporters trying to take pictures of the Abrams as it was being recovered by U.S. soldiers.
30 killed in Iraq violence
A suicide truck bomber hit an Iraqi checkpoint Saturday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 14 others in the northern city of Tal Afar, police said.
The explosion killed four soldiers and 10 civilians, some of whom died in their homes nearby when parts of the buildings crumbled, CNN reported.
The truck detonated after speeding into the checkpoint at 8:45 a.m., police said.
In March, U.S.President Bush praised Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad near the Syrian border, as an example of Iraq's improving security.
Separately, gunmen in nearby Mosul killed a woman walking with her 5-year-old son, police said.The boy was not injured.
Baghdad police Saturday found 15 bullet-riddled bodies, some with their hands and legs bound and showing signs of torture, CNN reported.
Authorities Saturday also imposed an extended curfew in the city of Kirkuk.
Police arrested 150 suspected insurgents and seized more than 220 assault rifles, officials said.
-Agencies-
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