BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi forces, backed by Polish army helicopters, swept through Shiite militia strongholds south of Baghdad on Saturday, rounding up dozens of militants and killing two. The prime minister met the provincial governor, who called for reinforcements to root out "the criminals."

Iraqi police said 30 suspected fighters linked to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army were grabbed in a pre-dawn house-to-house search by U.S. and Iraqi raiders in two eastern neighborhoods in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad.

Rival Shiite militias are engaged in grabs for power in the oil-rich south of the country, as British forces are drawing down. But U.S. commanders have reported significant inroads against both Shiite militias and al-Qaida in Iraq fighters across the fertile agriculture belt nearer to the capital. They credit local residents, emboldened against the terror tactics of both al-Qaida and Shiite militants, with much of the success.

The residents have bought into a trend that started in Iraq's western Anbar province, where Sunni tribesmen rose up against al-Qaida and have methodically hunted them down in conjunction with U.S. forces.

South of the capital, Shiite militiamen are facing the same onslaught in communities where they have terrorized co-religionists.

On Diwaniyah's east side, U.S.-led ground forces backed by two Polish army helicopters came under fire from machine guns and an anti-tank grenade launcher, the military said.

Coalition forces reported no casualties but said two militants were killed in the sweep. The statement reporting the operation said the Polish helicopters were called in after ground forces were attacked with three roadside bombs and small-arms fire.

Police also clashed with gunmen in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, during a raid in which they detained a Sadrist leader, local authorities said without identifying the suspect. Late Saturday, a mortar crashed near the Shiite shrine to Imam Al-Abbas in the city center, killing one person and wounding two, according to police and an Associated Press employee who was at the scene.

To the north of Diwaniyah, police broke into the house of a leading al-Qaida member in a village near Hillah. They captured Raed al-Alwani, who was wanted in the slayings of more than 100 Iraqis, according to a police officer in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity because he not authorized to release the information.

In all, at least 26 people were reported killed or found dead in attacks nationwide.

The U.S. military also announced that a U.S. soldier was killed and eight others wounded in a roadside bombing in eastern Baghdad on Thursday.




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