U.S. army says it killed 38 fighters in Baghdad

By Peter Graff

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it had killed 38 fighters in a day of battles in northeastern Baghdad as militants took advantage of dust storms to launch apparently coordinated assaults.

The attacks, which appeared to be some of the biggest clashes in weeks, showed that some fighters have defied an order by anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to observe a ceasefire.

U.S. troops opened fire with tanks, killing 22 fighters in one assault on a joint U.S.-Iraqi checkpoint after dark on Sunday. In another battle at almost the same time, they killed seven fighters who ambushed a foot patrol.

Nine were killed in engagements earlier in the day, the military said in a statement.

At about the same time as the two big evening attacks, a barrage of rockets struck the Green Zone, the fortified government and diplomatic compound in the centre of the capital.

The dust storms grounded U.S. helicopters, the main weapon American troops use to hunt rocket crews.

In the biggest attack, the military described an attempt by gunmen to overrun a checkpoint manned by Iraqis and U.S. troops.

The U.S. forces killed "22 criminals", it said in a statement, adding: "The criminals' small-arms fire was ineffective and there were no U.S. or (Iraqi security force) casualties in the attack."