Clashes erupt in Sadr City despite truce

BAGHDAD, May 13 (UPI) -- U.S. officials Tuesday said they killed several militants in Baghdad's Sadr City during clashes following a truce by the Mehdi Army of cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Forces loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr signed a truce Monday with lawmakers in Baghdad to halt attacks on Iraqi and U.S.-led forces in Sadr City.

U.S. and Iraqi military forces erected checkpoints throughout the city and at its main entrance points, now partially cordoned off by a concrete wall. Baghdad said Iraqi security forces would engage anyone with a weapon in the area, Voice of America said Tuesday.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover said forces launched missile attacks on militants seen deploying roadside bombs, but the situation there was relatively calm.

"I think Sadr City in comparison with previous days is largely quiet," he told VOA. "I think our soldiers and the Iraqi security forces are doing very well."

Further north, Iraqi forces led their U.S. military counterparts in operations targeting al-Qaida strongholds in the Ninawa provincial capital of Mosul.