& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

American, Iraqi troops kill 38 militants

AP, Baghdad
American and Iraqi troops killed 38 militants in the fiercest clashes with militants in weeks in Baghdad, including 22 who attacked a military checkpoint in a Shia militia stronghold, the US military said Monday.
Suspected Shia extremists, apparently taking advantage of a sandstorm that blanketed the capital, attacked several checkpoints and hammered the US-protected Green Zone in the fiercest salvo in weeks on Sunday. The sandstorm had grounded the American aircraft that normally prowl for launching teams.
Attacks continued Monday morning as insurgents lobbed more rockets or mortar shells toward the Green Zone, which houses the US embassy and much ol the Iraqi government on the west side of the Tigris River, benefiting from conflnued limited visibility that gave cover to the launching teams. Aku ms could be heard and the public address system in the area warned residents to take cover and stay away from windows.
The US Embassy on Monday confirmed the area was hit by indirect fire, the military's term for rocket or mortar attacks, and said there were "no reports of serious injury or deaths at this time.”
The fighting escalated as antiUS cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, rejected terms set by the Iraqi government for lifting a crackdown against his Mahdi Army militia.
The clashes Sunday were concentrated in Sadr City, the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, where US
soldiers used Abrams main battle tanks to repel the attackers.
I he American and Iraqi soldiers came under attack "by a large group of criminals." the US military said in a statement.
fifty-eight people, including five children and eight women, were also injured in clashes in Sadr City since Sunday, local health officials said Monday.
On Sunday, the US military claimed success with operations that have effectively sealed oft the southern section of Baghdad's Sadr City, a militia stronghold that is believed to be one of the prime launching sites for the Green Zone attacks.
The Green Zone has been regularly shelled since fighting broke out over a US-backed government crackdown against militias that began in late March. American
commanders have blamed what they call Iranian-backed Shia fictions they say have broken with a cease-fire imposed by al-Sadr in late August.
On Sunday, Al-Sadr's spokesman in the holy city of Najaf called the Shia-led government's terms for ceasing the crackdown against the militias illogical."
Salah al-Obeldl accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shia, of wanting to resolve the problem by force instead of dialogue. Chief among al Maliki's demands announced Friday were that the militias surrender heavy weapons and hand over all wanted people.
Brig. Gen. Qasslm al-Moussawi, the Iraqi military spokesman for Baghdad operations, on Sunday said the government would maintain the crackdown.