U.S. and Iraqi troops killed 30 militants early on Sunday (October 8) in fierce fighting in the flashpoint southern Shi'ite city of Diwaniya, the U.S. military said. The military said an M1A2 Abrams tank was severely damaged in the battle that erupted after militants opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades on U.S. and Iraqi forces on a mission to detain a "high-value" target. Diwaniya's southern districts are a stronghold for the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose movement is a key player in the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government of national unity. A Mehdi Army official, who declined to be named, denied any involvement in the fighting and blamed rogue gunmen. He said Sadr had issued orders to the Mehdi Army "not to attack anybody, including the Americans". Another Mehdi Army official denied reports of the 30 killed and said only three people had been wounded. Hospital sources said four civilians were wounded, three men and a woman. Maliki, under...