US, Iraqi troops kill 38 militants in Baghdad

U.S. and Iraqi troops killed 38 militants in fierce clashes with militants in Baghdad, including 22 who attacked a military checkpoint in a Shiite militia stronghold, the U.S. military said Monday.

Suspected Shiite extremists, apparently taking advantage of a sandstorm that blanketed the capital, attacked several checkpoints and hammered the U.S.-protected Green Zone in the fiercest salvo in weeks on Sunday. The sandstorm had grounded the American aircraft that normally prowl for launching teams.

The insurgents lobbed more rockets or mortar shells toward the Green Zone, housing the United States embassy and much of the Iraqi government on the west side of the Tigris River, on Monday morning. Alarms could be heard and the public address system in the area warned residents to take cover and stay away from windows.

The fighting escalated as anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, rejected terms set by the Iraqi government for lifting a crackdown against his Mahdi Army militia.

The clashes on Sunday concentrated in Sadr City, the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, where American soldiers used Abrams main battle tanks to repel the attackers.