Iraqi, U.S. forces detain insurgent cell leader in raid against Shiite bastion

Iraqi and American forces raided Baghdad's eastern slum of Sadr City before dawn on Tuesday, detaining a kidnapping and murder leader along with six suspects, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The statement said the detained cell leader is reported to have first knowledge of the control of the movement of the Iraqi origin U.S. soldier who was abducted on Oct. 23.

"The raid was launched to target this individual and to obtain information on the whereabouts of a kidnapped U.S. soldier," the statement said.

"Six additional suspected cell members were detained," it added.

The Iraqi forces and supporting aircraft received fire from " enemy fighters", prompting coalition aircraft to "neutralized the threat with precision fires at identified enemy targets," the statement said.

However, an Iraqi police source said earlier that the death toll rose to five and 15 others wounded when Iraqi and U.S. troops backed by aircraft raided Baghdad's eastern slum of Sadr City before dawn.

Earlier in the day, the source said that three people were killed and some 10 others wounded in the attacks against suspect positions in the neighborhood.

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