Iraqi troops test truce in cleric stronghold

By Wisam Mohammed and Aseel Kami

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops set up checkpoints and patrolled strategic streets in Moqtada al-Sadr's Baghdad stronghold on Wednesday, testing a truce with the Shi'ite cleric's Mehdi Army militia.

About 10,000 Iraqi soldiers, backed by tanks and U.S. attack helicopters, have been pushing deep into Sadr City since launching an operation on Tuesday to assert government authority on an area previously outside its control.

Should the operation succeed, it would boost Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's efforts to show he is tough on armed groups and capable of dismantling their fiefdoms in Iraq's more lawless parts, rather than relying on U.S. troops to fight them.

A truce 11 days ago between Shi'ite factions largely ended weeks of fighting pitting U.S. and Iraqi forces against the Mehdi Army that had killed hundreds of people.

But in renewed violence just south of the slum in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said its troops shot dead 11 militants on Wednesday. Police and several residents said at least some were civilians shot dead by U.S. snipers.

The U.S. military said all those killed were members of so-called "special groups", jargon for rogue units of Sadr's militia accused of receiving funding and training from Iran.

Under the Sadr City truce, the Mehdi Army fighters agreed to lay down their weapons to allow security forces to restore control over the slum.

"The Iraqi army came. Our relations with them are good. There is an understanding between us," said Salman al-Furaiji, the head of Sadr's office in Sadr City, adding that Iraqi soldiers had even held prayers alongside Mehdi Army fighters.  Continued...