BAGHDAD, September 10, SPA -- U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by helicopters Monday killed three civilians in the slum of Sadr City in a pre-dawn raid on the home of a suspected militia leader,police and residents said. Ground forces searched four houses but failed to find thesuspect, U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl said. Heidentified the suspect only as a «a criminal militiaspecial group commander,» a term associated with splinterfactions of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's MahdiArmy. Meanwhile, a bomb blew up around noon near the Buratha mosque in northern Baghdad, killing two civiliansand wounding six others, police were quoted as saying by the Associated Press. The U.S. command also announced that a U.S. soldier, whosepatrol in the Kirkuk area was hit with rockets on Sunday,had died from injuries sustained in the attack. Furtherdetails were not immediately available.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/481542