U.S. forces enter Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in first major push of Baghdad security drive

(AP) Hundreds of U.S. soldiers entered the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Sunday in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad.

Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches, but met no resistance in a district firmly in the hands of the Madhi Army militia led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said Lt. Col. David Oclander.

The move into Sadr City came following negotiations with political leaders in the neighborhood.

Al-Sadr had withdrawn his militia under intense pressure from the government, but there were worries that a large-scale military push without political clearance could bring a backlash and jeopardize the entire security effort.

"The indication that we are getting is a lot of the really bad folks have gone into hiding," Oclander said.

U.S. troops, assisted by Iraqi forces, moved through the Jamila area on the northern edge of Sadr City and sealed off some streets, police said. Last year, U.S. patrols came under frequent attack in Jamila.

Sadr City presents one of the most difficult steps in the security sweeps that began Feb. 14.

The Madhi Army's cooperation is essential to keep the plan from derailing, but al-Sadr has complained about the heavy U.S. role in the raids and its inability to stop car bombs and other attacks blamed on Sunni insurgent groups.

In other military action, U.S. troops raided a mosque in Baghdad and captured three suspected insurgents hiding inside.

The detainees include a man believed to be responsible for distributing weapons to build bombs for attacks on American and Iraqi forces, the U.S. military said in a statement.

U.S. rules of engagement allow troops to enter mosques only in rare cases.

"We do not enter mosques for the sole purposes of disrupting insurgent activities or conducting a show of force. Mosque entries occur only as a last resort," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman.

U.S. soldiers "respect the sanctity and holiness of all places of worship," he said.

During the operation, an Iraqi woman suffered wounds to her thigh and head, the statement said. She was treated on the scene, then transported to a local hospital.

Also Sunday, the U.S. military announced that more than 50 insurgents were detained in a three-day operation in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad. Three suspected insurgents were killed in raid, the military said in another statement.

Gunmen killed an Iraqi newspaper editor Sunday morning outside his home in western Baghdad, a colleague said.

Mohan al-Dahir, an editor of the independent Al-Mashriq newspaper, was shot dead by assailants who first tried to kidnap him, said Sayed Ali, another editor at the paper.

Al-Dahir, a Shiite Muslim, lived in a Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad.

"He had good relations with his Sunni neighbors," Ali said. "He was a moderate person with no links to political groups."

Al-Mashriq has been published daily in Iraq since 2003.

According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 150 journalists have been killed since the Iraq war began in March 2003.

Elsewhere, two policemen were killed and three hurt in clashes the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said. Fighting broke out when gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint, said Brig. Abdel-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for police in Nineveh province. Mosul lies 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Another policeman was killed when gunmen opened fire on a police station in the Iraqi capital's Azamiyah neighborhood, a Sunni district, police said. Security forces responded by doing house-to-house searches nearby, but found nothing.