U.S. says kills 10 members of Iraq cell linked to Iran

By Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it killed up to 10 militants and destroyed a torture room during a raid in a Baghdad Shi'ite bastion on Sunday.

The military said it was targeting suspected members of a cell known for smuggling sophisticated bombs from Iran.

It was the second time in as many days that U.S. forces have conducted an operation in Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia of anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in search of insurgents they accuse of procuring so-called explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran.

EFPs are a particularly lethal type of roadside bombs, which are the deadliest weapon against U.S. forces in Iraq.

Attacks on U.S. troops using armour-piercing EFPs have increased in recent months, reaching 65 attacks in April, according to media reports quoting Lieutenant-General Ray Odierno, commander of day-to-day operations in Iraq.

The U.S. military believes EFPs bombs are made in neighbouring Iran, a country Washington accuses of fomenting violence in Iraq. Tehran says it does stir trouble in Iraq.

Sunday's raid in Sadr City took place at 1:30 a.m. and involved air strikes by U.S. aircraft against buildings after U.S. forces were fired on with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, Major General William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman told a news conference.

He said the U.S. military confiscated more than 150 mortar rounds, ammunition, as well as components to make roadside bombs.