A senior aide to Moqtada al-Sadr has said the Iraqi radical Shi’ite cleric has ordered his militia to spread their battle against US troops across Iraq.
The instruction followed a US crackdown on his strongholds in Baghdad and across the south, with bombs flattening his office in the capital overnight.
This afternoon the US military claimed 35 suspected insurgents were killed overnight in clashes between US-led forces and followers of al-Sadr in Baghdad.
South African killed in Kirkuk attack
Elsewhere, a South African engineer and his Iraqi driver were killed in an attack on their car by insurgents in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
Police said another engineer, from New Zealand, was injured in the attack.
Gunmen opened fire with AK47 rifles as the victims were leaving their residence.
US convoy enters Fallujah
Meanwhile, heavy machine-gun fire was reported in Fallujah, after a US Marine convoy entered the town for the first time in more than a month.
The marines, accompanied by Iraqi security forces, drove into the town in what is seen as a test of a truce with insurgents.
