Coalition troops kill suspected Shiite militants

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Coalition forces killed four suspected militants and detained 18 thought to have helped make or plant roadside bombs, the U.S. military said.

The militants were suspected of coordinating logistical support from Iran for elements of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army and other Shiite militias operating in Iraq, the military said.

The raid in Qasirin is the latest in Diyala province, where the U.S. military has been conducting stepped-up operations for weeks.

Warplanes pounded a suspected weapons cache and troops destroyed six cars during the raid, the military said.

Diyala extends north and east of Baghdad to the Iranian border.

The military on Saturday also announced a two-day air assault in Diyala province earlier this week that destroyed four car bombs. The operation was focused on the largely Sunni al Qaeda in Iraq.

The Bush administration has maintained that Iranian elements have been training and equipping militants in Iraq, although Iran denies the charge.

Idea of Iranian, Iraqi and U.S. security team floated

An Iranian diplomat said that Iranian, Iraqi and U.S. officials will meet Monday to discuss forming a "tripartite" security panel, an Iranian news agency reported. The diplomat, ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi, was quoted in the government-run Islamic Republic News Agency on Saturday.

The Iraqi government came up with the idea of a "security subcommittee" after hosting meetings in Baghdad between Iran and the United States.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said such an entity would be designed to help with border issues, militias and terrorism.

IRNA paraphrased Qomi as saying the "third round of talks will focus on expert views on composition of the committee on Monday."

The Bush administration has maintained that Iranian elements are involved in training and equipping militants in Iraq. Iran denies the charge.

A U.S. Embassy in Baghdad spokesman told CNN on Saturday that officials are "working with the Iraqi government to arrange the first trilateral expert-level security meeting in Baghdad. Details are being finalized."

Other developments

A U.S. Marine was killed in combat in Anbar province Thursday. The details surrounding the death were not immediately released, but the U.S. military on Saturday said the Marine was assigned to Multi-National Force West. The U.S. military death toll in Iraq now stands at 3,658. Seven civilian contractors for the Defense Department also have died.

Two roadside bombs exploded Saturday morning in Baghdad, killing one person and wounding eight others, Baghdad police said. The first attack targeted the commercial district of Bab al-Mouhdham, and killed one person and wounded five others -- four of whom were soldiers. The second attack in central Baghdad's Karrada district wounded three police officers.

Iraqi police found 37 bodies across the city on Thursday and Friday, Iraq's Interior Ministry said Saturday. Bodies assumed to be victims of sectarian violence are found daily in the capital.

Iraqi lawmakers hosted the country's Asian Cup soccer champs at a rare gathering Saturday during parliament's summer recess, The Associated Press reported. Politicians posed for photos with the players at a hotel in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, but the celebration was closed to all but Iraq's political elite, with tight security preventing regular civilians from welcoming their soccer heroes home in person. Watch as returning soccer team members are hailed as heroes »

A blaze erupted at an idle oil facility in the southern city of Basra on Saturday after British forces exchanged fire with militia members, British military spokesman Maj. Mike Shearer told CNN. There were militia casualties, but no coalition casualties. Shearer said rogue militia members fired at troops, and the return fire started a blaze. Basra is a predominantly Shiite city, and militias affiliated with a number of political factions operate there.

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said security forces in Samarra have killed a man thought to be involved in planning last year's attack on Al-Askariya Mosque, the Shiite shrine. The official said Saturday that U.S. and Iraqi security forces conducting raids in Samarra on Thursday killed Haitham al-Baderi, also known as Haitham al-Saba. The mosque attack on February 22, 2006, sparked the vicious wave of Sunni and Shiite violence that furthered the deteriorating security situation and spawned massive population dislocation. It was attacked again in June.

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CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

All About Iraq War • Al Qaeda in Iraq • Iran • Muqtada al-Sadr