CNN reported the fighting as "sporadic" and said that 28 people were wounded along with those killed. The Voice of America cited Iraqi sources claiming 11 people were killed in the fighting and that U.S. military officials had confirmed "several" deaths.

Iraqi government and U.S. officials said they had hoped violence in Baghdad's Shiite slum neighborhood would be controlled after an agreement to end the fighting had been reached between the government and Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his militia.

One U.S. military official said the situation has calmed in Sadr City despite Wednesday's violence. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover told the VOA that compared to recent weeks, Sadr City "largely quiet" and the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers were "doing very well" in halting the fighting.