Overnight clashes between US forces and Shiite militia in Baghdad's Sadr City killed at least seven people, medical sources said on Thursday, but the American military put the toll at three dead.
Medics at two hospitals in Sadr City said seven bodies had been brought in, together with 19 wounded people in violence in the Shiite slum district since Wedenesday night.
However, the US military said three people who were planting bombs were killed and one wounded in overnight violence.
"Last night was relatively quiet in Sadr City -- as it was in most of Baghdad," US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said. "There were three Hellfire missiles fired at violent extremists in or around Sadr City."
Hundreds of people have been killed in Sadr City since violence flared up in late March following a government crackdown on Shiite militia.
However, there had been a gradual decline in the intensity of fighting since a deal between anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada aSadr's Mahdi Army militia l-and the Iraqi government reached at the weekend.
The pact will also allow the deployment of Iraqi security forces in Sadr City which has a population of two million people, but there were no immediate signs of troops moving in.
{{/usCountry}}The pact will also allow the deployment of Iraqi security forces in Sadr City which has a population of two million people, but there were no immediate signs of troops moving in.
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