Violence escalates in Iraq despite US claim of "attacks drop"

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Source: CCTV.com | 03-13-2008 09:11

Iraqi police and US Special Forces have clashed with a faction of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the southern city of Kut.

Iraqi police and US Special Forces have clashed with a faction of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the southern city of Kut.(CCTV.com)

Local police say they were hunting gunmen who, a day earlier, had battled with security forces.

Police say 12 of the fighters have been killed and 14 injured. Thirty people have been arrested.

Meanwhile, a suicide bombing has killed five people at a checkpoint north of Baghdad.

Violence has escalated in Iraq since last week, although the US military says there is a 60 percent drop in attacks since June.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei