Policemen stand guard on a road in Basra March 25, 2008. Heavy fighting broke out between Iraqi security forces and the Mahdi Army Shiite militia in Basra on Tuesday, a local security source and witnesses said. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Up to 30 people were killed and some 60 others wounded in the ongoing fierce clashes between Iraqi security forces and the Shiite Mahdi Army militia in the southern oil hub of Basra, medical and police sources said on Tuesday.

"Two hospitals in the city have received 30 bodies, including three policemen," a medical source in the city told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

He said that the wounded people, many of whom were women and children, were transported to the city hospitals for treatment. Some of them were in critical condition, he added.

On the ground, clashes continued during the night despite curfew measures in the neighborhoods of Hayyaniyah, Ashar, Jamhuriyah and Qiblah, a local security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.