Nine people have been killed in clashes between US soldiers and militia fighters in Iraq's holy Shia city of Kerbala.
The clashes broke out at about dawn when US soldiers entered Kerbala, southwest of Baghdad, and tried to arrest several militiamen from the Mehdi Army, the Shia militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Helicopters were called in to support the troops.
At least 25 people were wounded in the fighting, including a number of civilians, a hospital source said. Six militiamen were arrested.
Television pictures showed fighters dressed in black, traditionally the uniform of Mehdi Army fighters, and brandishing AK-47 assault rifles as they stood in the back of a truck beside coffins being taken for burial.
There was no immediate response from the US military, which generally stays out of Kerbala, home to one of the holiest Shia shrines in Iraq.
It is one of Iraq's best-protected cities because of its holy status, though there have been several large bomb attacks in the city this year.
