BAGHDAD, September 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The US occupation forces launched Wednesday, September 22, major operations in the Shiite Baghdad neighborhood Sadr City, killing at least 15 Iraqis and injured dozens others.

Chaos-mired Baghdad saw further violence in the day when a car bomb killed six Iraqis and injured 54 others.

“Fifteen people were killed and 52 others wounded in the American bombardments of several districts of Sadr City,” by US army's First Cavalry Division, Naim al-Qaabi, an aide to Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Fighting raged on in the streets of the slum as US troops and Sadr’s supporters clashed, a resident said.

“Right now we are in there. We are fighting the terrorists so we can re-establish civil-military operations and get back to the reconstruction projects that the people of Sadr City want,” said army spokesman Major Philip Smith.

The sounds of warplanes and artillery pounding Sadr City erupted shortly before midnight and sounded periodically through the night.

A representative of Sadr's office called AFP and said the Americans were attacking before his phone cut.

Two Aides Arrested

On Tuesday, September 21, US marines detained two close aides and several supporters of Sadr in a predawn raid on his office in the holy city of An-Najaf.

“A group of US marines raided the office of Sayed Sadr at 2:00 am (2200 GMT Monday) and arrested Sheikh Ahmad Al-Shaibani and Sayed Hosam Al-Husseini and a number of other workers in the office,” Abu Sadeq Al-Adhari, an official in Sadr's office, told AFP.

Iraqi police and security forces were seen blocking access to the office which is adjacent to the Imam Ali mausoleum in the heart of the city.

Police confirmed the raid and the detentions, while residents said they heard a number of loud explosions during the night and saw US troops carrying light weapons and ammunition out of the office.

Another Sadr official, who managed to escape during the raid, said dozens of Sadr’s followers were detained, including religious figures and security guards.

There was no immediate confirmation from marines based in An-Najaf but a senior US military official in Baghdad said he was looking into reports about the operation.