BAGHDAD, Oct. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Sunni insurgents clashed with Iraqi police and Shiite militia near Baghdad on Thursday and at least 19 people were killed, an Interior Ministry source said.

   "The clash erupted between Sunni militants and a joint force of police and the Mehdi Army who headed to Nehrawan area east of Baghdad to save a kidnapped member of the Mehdi Army," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

   The Mehdi Army are militia loyal to the radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

   Two policemen and 17 Mehdi fighters were killed and five other policemen and 12 Mehdi fighters wounded, the source added.

   The casualties among the insurgents were not immediately known. Enditem