BAGHDAD, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday it killed nine militants in helicopter strikes overnight in eastern Baghdad, where battles have raged between security forces and militiamen loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Much of the fighting took place in and around the crowded Shi'ite slum of Sadr City, the anti-American cleric's stronghold in the capital.

"We killed nine in total," said Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad.

"In one incident, four criminals were firing on a patrol and an Apache (helicopter) was called in."

The continued clashes raise questions about how far Sadr controls those claiming allegiance to him and to what extent he wants to end the current conflict, first sparked when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on militias in the southern city of Basra in late March.

"As far as we're concerned, they're separate from Moqtada al-Sadr," Stover said, referring to the militia combatants in Sadr City. "They're not listening to him."

Sadr last month urged his followers to continue observing a shakey ceasefire and praised them for their patience.

Stover said he did not know of any civilian casualties from the clashes. Police in Sadr City said 11 people had been killed and 27 wounded in fighting between 8.00 p.m. (1700 GMT Saturday) on Saturday and 8.00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Sunday.

The dead included three teenage boys and a woman, police said. Sources at Sadr City's two hospitals said they had received four dead, none of who were women or children.

On Saturday, the U.S. military fired rockets at a target near one of the hospitals in Sadr City, wounding 20 people and damaging several ambulances, the hospital said.

The military said it had destroyed a "criminal command and control centre" in the strike. (Reporting by Tim Cocks, Editing by Matthew Jones)

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