Iraq: At least 75 dead in Sadr City

BAGHDAD, March 29 (UPI) -- Violence in Iraq Saturday has left at least 75 people dead in Sadr City, the Baghdad neighborhood where Iraqi security forces have targeted Shiite militias.

CNN reported that nearly 500 have been wounded in the days of fighting.

The U.S. military said ground and air operations to back up Iraqi forces killed 23 "criminals" on Friday, CNN reported.

An Iraqi military official said at least 40 members of the Iraqi National Police have abandoned the force recently and taken their U.S.-issued weapons to join radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's Medhi Army.