Forty-three militants were killed in clashes with coalition forces near the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf, a US military spokeswoman said Tuesday.  

"Forty-three anti-coalition forces were killed near Najaf and an anti-coalition anti-aircraft system was destroyed by an AC-130 gunship," the spokeswoman said in Baghdad.

US helicopters opened fire on Mehdi Army militia checkpoints overnight outside the town of Kufa, some 10 km northeast of Najaf, a witness Muhsin Jawad told Xinhua.

Earlier on Monday night, sporadic skirmishes broke out between US forces and Mehdi militiamen in the area, Jawad said, adding that several buildings used by the shiite militia near the checkpoints were damaged by the US gunship fire.

On Monday morning, the US troops opened fire in all directions while rushing through several streets of Najaf heading to their base in the city, Jawad said.

The Mehdi Army is led by firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who is holed up in Najaf and wanted by US forces on charges of ordering the killing of a rival cleric.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2004)