BAGHDAD, 18 October 2003 — A joint US-Iraqi patrol enforcing a curfew clashed with gunmen guarding the headquarters of a Shiite cleric in Karbala, setting off a firefight that killed three Americans and 10 Iraqis, including two security officers, the US Central Command and witnesses said yesterday.

In Baghdad, another soldier from the 220th Military Police Brigade was killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded yesterday morning. No further details were released.

The Americans involved in the firefight at a senior Shiite cleric’s headquarters were members of the 101st Airborne Division, said Maj. Mike Escudie of US Central Command in Tampa, Florida.

Gunfire broke out again yesterday morning in the same area in the restive city, where Thursday night’s encounter may have signaled a new determination by the Americans to disarm religious-based militias and enforce curfews. Sporadic clashes continued for about 12 hours after the initial battle.

An armored personnel carrier of the US-led coalition opened fire yesterday morning as screaming men, women and children fled for cover. The gunfire soon ended, but young Shiites still manned rooftop and street positions with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

The gunmen abandoned their positions hours later, but several Polish jeeps and armored cars remained stationed less than 200 meters away from the cleric’s house. At least two Polish snipers could be seen at nearby rooftops. Normal traffic also resumed in the area as life went on normally elsewhere in Karbala, with thousands of pilgrims, many Iranians, congregating at the city’s two mosques.

The US Central Command said Thursday night’s engagement “involved an exchange of small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades as Iraqi authorities and coalition military police were investigating reports of armed men congregating on a road near the (Imam Abbas) mosque after curfew.”

Malik Kazim, a gunman who said he took part, said the fighting involved a coalition patrol of armored vehicles and Humvees that passed at about 11:45 p.m. by the offices of a local senior Shiite cleric, Mahmoud Al-Hassani, which were guarded by at least 20 gunmen.

The Americans opened fire on the armed guards “without any provocation or warning,” said Abu Ali, an aide to Al-Hassani. He said Al-Hassani, who moved to Karbala from Baghdad following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April, has moved to a secret location with his family yesterday morning.

The Central Command said two members of the Iraqi security forces also were killed and five wounded, and Abu Ali said eight of the guards were killed.

Kazim said intense gunfire lasted about a half-hour. Large pools of blood could be seen on the street yesterday morning, along with dozens of bullet holes in the walls, some large-caliber.

In Baghdad’s Sadr City district, a stronghold for firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, about 6,000 Shiites chanted “No, No USA, Yes Yes Muqtada” at Friday prayers.

Less than a kilometer away, US tanks, armored personnel carriers and dozens of soldiers blocked off streets leading to a building housing the Sadr City council.