BAGHDAD, May 30 (UPI) -- U.S. troops fought with militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Sunday night in Koufa, Iraq, killing about 30 of the insurgents.
The fighting was the latest interruption in a shaky 3-day truce.
Elsewhere in the Najaf region, from where al-Sadr had pledged on Thursday to withdraw most of his militia, about 100 Iraqi police who were to begin joint patrols with U.S.-led coalition forces apparently deserted their posts, CNN reported.
Earlier Sunday at least two Iraqis died when they were caught in a crossfire in an attack on an SUV convoy carrying Western civilian contractors, CBS reported. The civilians flagged another vehicle and escaped. Bystanders cheered and set fire to three abandoned vehicles after the fighting had subsided.
A U.S. military spokesman said Sunday three American marines were killed in armed clashes Saturday night in al-Anbar in western Iraq.
The spokesman said unidentified gunmen attacked a U.S. Marine patrol, killing the three soldiers.
