US and Iraqi forces kill 30 Shiite militiamen in S. Iraq town of Diwaniya

The US military said heavy clashes broke out Saturday and went into Sunday after Mehdi Army followers of the radical cleric Moqtada Sadr entered the city firing rocket-propelled grenades.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly 272 disclosed on Oct. 6 that parts of Sadr’s Mehdi Army challenge his authority since he ordered the militia to stop attacking American troops.
Referring to the clash, an official in Sadr’s office said Sunday, that the US broke an agreement by entering the city center. He said on condition of anonymity that Sadr “has prevented us from fighting the Americans in Diwaniya.”