Skirmishes rattle Iraqi holy city

Militants were meant to leave the cities under the truce

US forces have exchanged fire with militants for a second day in the Iraqi holy city of Kufa, where fugitive Shia cleric Moqtadr Sadr preaches.

Tanks on a city bridge opened fire as militants attacked with mortars and other artillery, a correspondent for AFP news agency reports from the scene.

The fighting appears to be a further blow to a truce agreed in the nearby, much larger holy city of Najaf.

Gunmen in northern Iraq killed a fire chief and family members in an ambush.

We will defend these holy places until the last drop of our blood Moqtadr Sadr speaking on Friday

The attackers shot dead Mohammed Saber along with his wife, a sister and one of his children in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, security forces said.

'Couple of days'

A spokesman for Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army, Sheikh Mohammed Ghazawi, told AFP that US tanks had attacked MA positions at about 0900 (0500 GMT) on Saturday morning.

HOW CONFRONTATION UNFOLDED End Mar: Coalition bans pro-Sadr newspaper; protests erupt 5 Apr: Coalition issues arrest warrant for Sadr Early April: Rebellion spreads; clashes in Karbala, Najaf, Kufa 14 May: Shia spiritual leader Ayatollah Sistani calls for end to Najaf fighting 26 May: US troops seize key Sadr aide in Najaf 27 May: Sadr makes truce offer Who are the Mehdi Army? Text: Sadr truce offer

No comment was immediately available from coalition officials on the fighting and there were no reports of casualties.

AFP's correspondent reported seeing MA fighters opening fire from behind the wall of a mosque in Kufa, where the streets were largely deserted.

Mr Sadr did not give his customary sermon in Kufa at Friday prayers but did appear on an Arabic TV station, al-Jazeera, to say peace was only possible if the coalition pulled its troops out of Iraq.

"No matter how numerous the enemies are, we will stand fast in the face of this Crusader [Christian] offensive against Islam and we will defend these holy places until the last drop of our blood," he said.

On Friday, the coalition reportedly killed at least three MA fighters in Kufa as the two sides blamed each other for violating the truce agreed on Thursday.

Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt also said 16 mortar rounds were fired at a US base close to Najaf but he added that it might take "a couple of days" for the truce to take hold.