BAGHDAD — At least 18 fighters with Al Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a clash with the Sunni insurgent group the Islamic Army north of Baghdad, one of the latter group's fighters told The Times today.
"Yesterday at 3:30 p.m., we had the toughest battle ever with them. . . . The battle lasted for more than three hours," said Abu Ibrahim, the Islamic Army's leader in Samarra, about 10 miles northwest of the fighting.
He said that his men had arrested 16 fighters, including some foreigners, and that the detainees were taken to the Islamic Army's own prisons around Samarra.
Iraqis aligned with nationalist rebel groups such as the Islamic Army have been fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq for months. The fighting has worsened since the spring, and many fighters have joined U.S.-funded organizations called concerned citizen groups to provide security in their region and battle those still aligned with Al Qaeda.
The Islamic Army in Samarra has not entered into a formal treaty with the Americans akin to one by their offshoot in northeastern Diyala province, where many of its fighters have joined U.S.-backed paramilitary groups to police their areas. But they are largely not fighting American troops.
In Baghdad today, a bomb exploded near a minibus in a Shiite district in eastern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding seven others. Also in Baghdad, an Iraqi Shiite driving through the Sunni neighborhood of Adil was gunned down, police said.
A U.S. soldier died and three others were wounded Friday in a bomb attack in northeastern Diyala province, the American military said today in a statement.
ned.parker@latimes.com
Times staff writers Saif Rashid, Said Rifai and Raheem Salman and a correspondent in Samarra contributed to this report.