Get Shia militia to stop attacks: US general

BAGHDAD- A top American general urged radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to rein in his fighters as a US soldier was killed during a gunbattle in a militia stronghold in Baghdad.
Two bombings also struck the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday within 30 minutes of each other, killing four people and wounding 12 amid concerns that Al Qaeda in Iraq is regrouping.
A US soldier died from a bullet wound in a clash in New Baghdad, a stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in an eastern section of the capital, according to Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman.
A rocket also slammed into a closed school as teenagers were playing soccer outside, killing two youths and wounding three amid sporadic fighting in the sprawling Sadr City district, a predominantly Shia area of Baghdad that is home to 2.5 million people.
Fighting that began a month ago in response to an Iraqi government crackdown on militia violence has put a severe strain on a cease-fire called in late August by al-Sadr. The anti-US cleric threatened this weekend to unleash his militia in open war" if the operations persist.
Despite heightened rhetoric by al-Sadr and his followers, US commanders have been careful not to directly link the cleric to the fighting, instead blaming Iranian-backed Shia fighters who have broken with his movement.
We do not attribute what we've seen to JAM," said the No. 2 US commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, using the Iraqi acronym for the Mahdi Army.
But he suggested al-Sadr could stop the attacks.
We certainly hope that Sadr will choose the road of peace and responsibility," Austin, who commands day-to-day operations in Iraq, told reporters.
Fierce fighting also broke out overnight in Husseiniyah, another area dominated by Shia militias on the northeastern outskirts of Baghdad as well as in Sadr City, the area that has been the focus of recent fighting.
The American military said 21 suspected gunmen were killed in the two neighborhoods late Tuesday. Iraqi officials said 15 civilians were among the dead, including two women.
The killing of the US soldier raised the American death toll in April to 34, the highest rate of death for troops in Iraq since September, when 65 Americans were killed, according to an Associated Press tally.
In all, at least 4,046 US military personnel have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to the AP count.
Northern Iraq, where Sunni Arab extremists are the main threat, also fa more violence.
The first attack occurred about 11:15 a.m., when a suicide bomber pushing a cart detonated his explosives about 200 yards from the police headquarters, killing two people and wounding six, Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Sattar said.
A parked car bomb exploded about a half hour later as a police patrol passed the vehicle in another part of the city, killing two passers-by and wounding six other people.
The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks that have chipped away at recent security gains.
Austin said more high-profile bombings are likely as Al Qaeda in Iraq tries to regroup after suffering a devastating blow last year when thousands of Sunni tribesmen turned against the terrorist group that is blamed p most car bombings and suicide attacks in Iraq.
Last weekend, the terror network announced a one-month offensive against US troops and US-allied Sunnis.
Austin vowed to work to hold our gains that we've made over the past several months."
The US military also raised the death toll from Tuesday's suicide bombing in Diyala province to 18 _ 11 civilians and seven policemen. It said twouolicemen were wounded.
Iraqi police who received reports at the provincial headquarters gave a lower toll, saying eight policemen were killed and 10 people were wounded when the woman blew herself up at the entrance to a police station in Jalula, 80 miles northeast of Baghdad.
It was the second suicide attack by a woman in as many days in Diyala, which has become a flashpoint in the battle against Al Qaeda.