Fierce clashes broke out overnight between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the southern city of Nassriyah, killing 10 people and wounding some 50 others, local police and official sources said.
"Ten people were killed in the fighting, and up to 50 others were wounded, including civilians and security members," Abdul Karim al-Uqiedy, deputy head of the local Government told Xinhua by telephone.
A local police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that the fighting sparked on Tuesday night after the Iraqi security forces detained a Sadr's Mahdi Army member who was accused of targeting U.S. and Iraqi forces with roadside bombs and mortars.
Groups of Mahdi's militants armed with machineguns and rocket propelled grenades attacked the house of the local police commando chief, who was accused by the militants of detaining one of their comrades, the police said.
Residents of Nassriyah, some 375 km southeast of Baghdad, said that sporadic explosions and gunfire could be heard in the noon on Wednesday, whereas the streets in the city were deserted.
They said that several cars were charred on the Habboby Street in central the city, where the government building located, and that many police guards of the building were either killed or injured.
Iraqi Army and police forces blocked the entrances of Nassriyah as they moved into the city to quell the violence, they added.