Battles rage in Baghdad neighborhood

BAGHDAD -- With attack helicopters firing into the streets below, US and Iraqi forces fought Sunni gunmen in a densely packed downtown enclave yesterday , the heaviest fighting seen in the capital since the launch of a new security offensive eight weeks ago.

The US military said four Iraqi Army soldiers and three insurgents were killed and 16 American soldiers were wounded in a street battle that raged throughout the day in the Fadhel neighborhood. The military reported one civilian casualty, an injured child, but witnesses said they saw at least 18 bodies, including those of civilians. A dozen people were reported injured.

Two US helicopters involved in the battle, an Apache and a Blackhawk, were struck by gunfire from the streets and rooftops, forcing them to return to their base. As the Apache left, it jettisoned a pod containing small rockets, said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a military spokesman.

"We saw the Humvees rolling into the neighborhood. Suddenly, the mujahidden emerged onto the street, and the clashes began to take place from one alley to another," said Abdul Rahman Abdul Latif, 63, a mechanic. "People fled into their houses. Others were caught in the crossfire. The shooting didn't stop at all."

Thousands of US troops continue to enter the capital, and yesterday's battle illustrated the tenuous hold security forces have over volatile areas. Only days ago, US troops were patrolling and conducting security sweeps in Fadhel, a Sunni insurgent stronghold, without incident, witnesses and US military officials said.

"We know there are anti-Iraqi forces waiting out there to fight and wanting to fight when it is to their advantage," said Garver, using the military's term for insurgents. "We expect the enemy to strike back. He's not done. He's going to keep fighting hard."

The risks faced by thousands of US and Iraqi soldiers are greater now than in earlier attempts to pacify Baghdad because they are spending more time in violent areas. A constellation of neighborhood security outposts, where US and Iraqi soldiers live 24 hours a day, is a key element of the new counterinsurgency strategy the U S military contends will bring stability.

Yesterday's battle was a reminder of the challenges they face in neighborhoods where Sunni militants or Shi'ite militias have become entrenched after months of sectarian violence and have the ability to attack at any moment.

Across Iraq, the US military reported the deaths of four American soldiers yesterday , three in a roadside bombing in southeastern Baghdad and one in Anbar Province. The deaths bring the number of US casualties this month to 45, half of whom were killed in Baghdad, according to the military's figures. If the pace continues, April is on course to become the deadliest month for US troops so far this year.

In the town of Moqdadiya, northeast of Baghdad, a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt under her head-to-toe Islamic garment killed at least 15 recruits and injured 17 near a police station, police officials said. In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near the Baghdad University campus, killing five people. Police found nine unidentified corpses, all blindfolded and shot in the head, in various neighborhoods of the capital.