Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.

15 Killed as Police, Shi'ite Militias Clash in Southern Iraq
------------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&c=661645&l=1009&ctl=147C903:A6F02AD83191E160DE48380679A1B7CD9574F7DCC14957C0 Authorities say at
least 90 injured in street battles between police and armed fighters
from radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army Iraqi
authorities say overnight clashes between Shi'ite militias and Iraqi
security forces have left 15 people dead in the southern city of
Amara.

Authorities said Friday at least 90 people have been injured in street
battles between police and armed fighters from radical Shi'ite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

In other violence, Iraqi authorities say mortar fire in the town of
Balad killed at least nine people and wounded several others.

Police say several mortar rounds hit Balad Friday, raising fears of a
new round of sectarian violence in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim town, in
the Sunni Arab heartland north of Baghdad.

Nearly 100 people were killed in Balad in a recent wave of sectarian
violence triggered by the killing of 19 Shi'ite workers last Friday.

Thursday, U.S. military spokesman Major-General William Caldwell said
violence in the Iraqi capital has increased 22 percent in the first
three weeks of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He called the results
of a highly-touted security operation in Baghdad "disheartening."

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.


.