Three U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq with roadside bomb

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Insurgents using roadside bombs and small arms fire killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded four, while clashes southeast of Baghdad between Shiite militiamen loyal to a radical cleric and Sunni militants left at least 15 people dead, officials said Thursday.
Five Iraqis died in other attacks.
U.S. aircraft, meanwhile, destroyed more militant safe houses near the Syrian border, and apparently killed a senior al-Qaida in Iraq figure who was using religious courts to try Iraqis who supported coalition forces, the military said.
The fighting between the Shiites and Sunnis occurred after cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Madhi Army militia raided a house in Nahrawan, 15 miles southeast of Baghdad, to free a fellow militiaman kidnapped by Sunni militants, said Amer al-Husseini, an aide to al-Sadr.
All 15 killed were Shiite militiamen, he said, but did not know if the Sunnis suffered any losses.
The Mahdi Army freed the hostage and captured two of the militants in the raid, but was ambushed on its way out of Nahrawan, al-Husseini said. Nine people were also wounded, he said.