About 100 Shiite militiamen were killed in overnight clashes in Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf, a senior US military official said Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told a news conference that a "very large number" of militiamen were killed in 21 engagements in Baghdad's Sadr City and five engagements in Najaf.

He put the total number killed at less than 100, with about 30 people killed in the Baghdad's Sadr neighborhood, which is a stronghold of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi militia.

Sadr, who has led a six-week-long insurgency against the US-led occupation, is holed up in Najaf.

Dozens of people have been killed in violent clashes between the Mahdi militia and the coalition forces.

Sadr is wanted to answer for charges in relation to a suspected murder of a rival cleric last year.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2004)