At least 30 people have been killed and 219 wounded in clashes in the past 24 hours between US occupation forces and Shia fighters in Iraqi cities, not including Najaf where fierce fighting is going on. US forces said they have killed 360 Al-Mahdi army militiamen so far in Najaf. Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr's spokesmen said far fewer have died. According to the Health Ministry, most of the Iraqi casualties were civilians - though it did not provide the identities of victims. Some of the heaviest fighting occurred in Amara, 365km southeast of Baghdad, where 20 people were killed and 50 others were wounded. Fighting also killed or wounded people in Baghdad, Kut, Diwaniya and Basra. Aljazeera has learnt that a number of explosions have been heard in different areas of Kut, where members of al-Mahdi Army have surrounded Iraqi national forces and police headquarters, particularly in the al-Hai neighbourhood. Elsewhere six Iraqis were killed and 13 others injured when a bomb exploded in a market in Khan Bani Saad village, northeast of Baghdad, medical sources told Aljazeera. Also, two US military vehicles were destroyed and a number of US soldiers injured in a blast south of Baquba city. **Dissenting voice*** The clashes in several cities across central and southern Iraq killed and wounded hundreds. The clashes appear to have stalled efforts by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to draw prominent Shia leader al-Sadr into the country's political transition. But in an attempt to deal with the worsening situation, the interim deputy president has called on US occupation troops to pull out of Najaf completely. "I call for multinational forces to leave Najaf and for only Iraqi forces to remain there," Ibrahim Jaafari said in remarks broadcast on Aljazeera on Wednesday. His remarks followed demands by Allawi for Shia fighters to also quit Najaf, even though al-Sadr has vowed never to leave his hometown. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fight during clashes between al-Mahdi army with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Najaf, southern Iraq Tuesday Aug. 10, 2004. (AP)