Baghdad, March 5, SPA -- Gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque in westBaghdad early Sunday, killing three people in a 25 minutegun battle, police said. Seven people were wounded. U.S. forces blocked off the area after the exchange offire, said police Lt. Maitham Abdul Rezzaq. Rezzaqinitially reported the mosque imam had been killed. Theimam was not hurt, the Associated Press reported. Rezzaq said the attackers hit the al-Nour mosque inBaghdad's Jihad neighborhood shortly after midnight andfought with mosque guards until about 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning, several masked gunmen were guarding themosque. Windows were broken, the exterior walls werepockmarked where they had been hit with bullets and dozensof spent casings lay in the road, where there were at leasttwo unexploded hand grenades. The imam, Sheik Shaker Mahmoud, told reporters that "agang using ten cars stormed the mosque." "They launched an attack on our mosque. They brokewindows and stormed the courtyard," the cleric said. Witnesses said U.S. helicopters hovered above thegun battle. America forces moved in to stop the fighting andremove the dead and wounded. Rezzaq said all the wounded appeared to be mosque guards.The identity of the three dead was not immediately known.--SPA 14 08 Local Time 11 08 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/336772