A U.S. launched airstrike on the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during which the U.S. and Iraqi troops detained two militants, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

The airstrike was carried out on Saturday evening when Iraqi forces teamed up with coalition advisors came under fire in the Shiite dominated area, which is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

"As ground forces approached the targeted area, they began receiving enemy fire. Ground forces called for air support and coalition aircraft delivered munitions, suppressing the enemy fire, " the military said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the military said they killed a terrorist and detained two other suspects with alleged ties to al- Qaida network, during operations on Sunday near the Syrian border in western Iraq.

Two more foreign fighter facilitation network suspects were detained in Baghdad, the statement added.

Source: Xinhua