At least 72 people were killed and 148 wounded today in US air raids and fighting between the Iraqi police and Shia militia in the southern city of Kut.
Security sources said most of the victims fell when US warplanes bombed a district controlled by the Mehdi militia at dawn.
Mehdi army militiamen, loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, killed five police in clashes yesterday.
