Civilians Slain By Baghdad Car Bomb

A parked car bomb aimed at a U.S. patrol Thursday in Baghdad killed at least nine Iraqi civilians and wounded 26, police said.

American troops killed 17 militants amid escalating fighting in Sadr City, and another U.S. soldier was killed as the military death toll increased to a seven-month high of 50.

The explosion occurred about 9:15 a.m. in a crowded commercial area in eastern Baghdad, police officials said, adding the nine killed included three women and a child. There was no information about any U.S. casualties.

Health officials also said clashes in Baghdad's Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City killed eight people, including two women and a child, and wounded 18 others, including women and children.

The Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused fighters of the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army of using residents as human shields during close combat in the teeming slum, which has become the epicenter of fighting since a government crackdown triggered clashes in late March.

In fighting late Wednesday and early Thursday in Sadr City, U.S. soldiers killed five militants before they could launch a rocket attack.

A sixth militant was killed when he attempted to recover the rockets and a U.S. attack helicopter fired a Hellfire missile to destroy the rocket.

U.S. soldiers killed three other militants who attacked American troops with shoulder-fired rockets on Wednesday evening, the military said.

An unmanned drone also fired Hellfire missile, killing two militants on a rooftop as they prepared to attack positions of U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Three militants who planted a roadside bomb were killed in another airstrike, and three other militants were killed in separate clashes. The fighting was reported in statements issued Thursday by the military.

Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman for American troops in Baghdad, also blamed the militants for putting civilians at risk by staging attacks from populated areas.

"We will exercise all precaution when returning fire; however, we will defend ourselves against violent aggression," Stover said.

Stover blamed what he called Iranian-backed groups of launching attacks on U.S. troops, adding that U.S. troops were working hard to specifically target the enemy and avoid civilian casualties.

The fighting in Sadr City - a base for the powerful Mahdi Army militia - intensified after al-Sadr last week threatened to unleash an "open war" against U.S.-led forces who try to exert control, with the help of Iraqi forces, over an area containing nearly half of the Baghdad's population.

The U.S. military reported early Thursday that a soldier had been killed by an explosion Wednesday near a patrol in Ninevah Province, bringing the monthly count to at least 50 - 27 in Baghdad - in the deadliest month since September when 65 U.S. troops died.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, at least 4,062 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.

Around Iraq, at least 1,080 Iraqi civilians and security forces were killed nationwide this month, or an average of 36 a day, according to an AP tally. That's down from March's total of 1,269, or an average of 41 per day.

Officials reported at least 479 deaths in Sadr City but they could not break down the number of militants, Iraqi Security forces and civilians.

Officials: Iraq Sends Delegation To Iran

Iraqi officials say the government has dispatched a delegation to Iran to discuss concerns about the arming and training of Shiite militias in Iraq. A government official says five Shiite politicians left Wednesday with "evidence, confessions and pictures" indicating that Iran is supplying weapons and training fighters who are locked in a violent standoff with U.S. and Iraqi troops.

The official says the delegation will seek to clarify "the interference of Iranian leaders."

The official spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Senior Shiite legislator Reda Jawad Taqi confirms the delegation was sent but did not provide more details.