Earlier this month, US and Iraqi troops fought hours-long battles with insurgents in the same area

The U.S. military says American and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen Wednesday in Baghdad's Haifa Street, a known stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents.

The military said the clash broke out after Iraqi and U.S. soldiers launched targeted raids to capture militants in the area, which is just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad.

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The military did not say if there were casualties or any of the suspects were captured.

Earlier this month, U.S. and Iraqi troops fought hours-long battles with insurgents in the same area.

Separately, the U.S. military says coalition forces captured three suspected al-Qaida-linked terrorists during a raid north of Baghdad Wednesday.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on the motorcade of Iraq's higher education minister Abed Dhiab al-Ajili, killing one of his guards. The minister said he was heading to work when the attack took place in the mostly Sunni district of Dora.

On Tuesday, five people were killed when a helicopter owned by a private U.S. security company crashed in central Baghdad.

Witnesses said the helicopter was fired on before it went down.

But U.S. defense officials said there was no indication that the aircraft owned by Blackwater U.S.A. was shot down.

U.S. officials have not disclosed the identity of the victims.

Meanwhile, in Washington, President Bush's choice to lead U.S. forces in Iraq says the situation there is "dire," but "not hopeless."

Lieutenant General David Petraeus told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that the security situation in Iraq has deteriorated significantly over the past year.