Iraqi and U.S. troops backed by aircraft raided Baghdad's eastern slum of Sadr City before dawn on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding some 10 others, a well- informed police source said.

"Iraqi and U.S. troops carried out a raid at about 3:00 a.m. (2400 GMT) against an alleged kidnapping cell in the Sadr City neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

There were several bombings against suspect positions in the neighborhood, in which three people were killed and about 10 others wounded, the source added.

For the third day, U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces have raided the Shiite slum of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, where thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are active.

Source: Xinhua