US kills six militants using 'human shields' in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A US air strike in Iraq's restive Diyala province killed six alleged militants who sheltered behind women and children on the rooftop of a building on Saturday, the military said.

US forces came under small arms fire during an operation targeting a weapons dealer linked to a foreign "terrorist network," the military said.

"During the engagement, armed terrorists gathered on the roof of one buildings and brought several women and children to their fighting positions as human shields," the military said.

The gunmen eventually released the women and children and allowed US-led forces to move them off the battlefield, but continued to rain down small arms fire from the rooftop, prompting the ground forces to call in an air strike.

Around 10,000 US and Iraqi forces have been pressing a massive air and ground assault in Diyala since last month in a bid to flush out Al-Qaeda linked militants.

The military claims to have killed and captured dozens of militants, but senior commanders have said most of the senior Al-Qaeda leaders in the area fled ahead of the assault.

In several raids in the northern and central regions of Iraq, the military detained another 18 suspected militants linked to bomb-making cells, it said in a separate statement.

Meanwhile, at least 14 people were killed in separate attacks in Iraq on Saturday.