Seven people died in Sadr City as clashes between security forces and militiamen continued in the capital on Wednesday, a day after top U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus called for a suspension of U.S. troop withdrawals because of the renewed combat. Baghdad's Green Zone that houses diplomatic missions and much of Iraq's government also came under renewed attack by rockets or mortars early Wednesday. The U.S. embassy confirmed the shelling, but said there were no immediate reports of casualties. Police said the seven victims in Sadr City _ including three children _ died when projectiles slammed into a house in the sprawling slum, a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Twenty-seven other people were wounded, the Associated Press quoted a hospital official as saying.
