(Adds casualty data, clashes eased)

By Ross Colvin and Alastair Macdonald

BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Machinegun fire rained from U.S. helicopters in central Baghdad on Friday as U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen during a raid on suspected militant hideouts, Iraqi security officials and witnesses said.

The fighting erupted when the troops moved into the Fadhil area, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents, and were fired upon by militants, an Interior Ministry source told Reuters.

It also came a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his forces could take over from the Americans in June. His comments followed talks with U.S. President George W. Bush, who strongly backed him as the "right guy" for Iraq.

Maliki has been under growing pressure to contain sectarian death squads roaming the capital's streets and accused of killing thousands. New data from Interior Ministry officials showed a 44 percent leap in civilian casualties in November.

Witnesses said two low-flying U.S. Apache helicopters were circling above the Fadhil area, firing into the streets below and letting off flares to deflect missile attack.

A local resident, Abu Omar al-Qaisi, said Iraqi troops and armed men in civilian clothes had entered the area at dawn, sparking clashes in which several people were killed. He said he had helped carry eight bodies into a local mosque.

At midday, four U.S. armoured Humvee vehicles had entered his street and directed machinegun fire at a local secondary school, he told Reuters by telephone. Shooting could be heard in the background. By late afternoon, a relative calm had returned.

The Interior Ministry said one soldier had been killed and nine people wounded, including five soldiers in the operation. A Defence Ministry official said 28 suspects had been captured.

The U.S. military said it could not comment on an ongoing operation.

U.S. forces earlier staged numerous raids in and around Baghdad, killing two suspected al Qaeda insurgents and detaining 27, the military said in a statement.

The fighting comes amid reports that an independent bipartisan group will recommend U.S. troops pull back into their bases in Iraq in more of a support role, while providing training and equipment for Iraqi forces.

Maliki has complained that his security forces, heavily dependent on U.S. armour and airpower, are ill-equipped to tackle the violence and need more weapons.

BOMBS AT PET MARKET

Bombs also killed five people in Baghdad on Friday, including one at the city's pet market. Three people were killed and 22 wounded, police said, when a car bomb blasted the Ghazil market an hour before a regular traffic curfew came into force to protect worshippers at weekly prayers.

The pet market, a popular weekend spectacle, sells a raucous, colourful range of creatures, from guard dogs and monkeys to parrots, pigeons and tropical fish.

Figures on Friday from Interior Ministry officials estimated that 1,850 civilians were killed in political violence in November, a 44 percent increase on October and more than three times what it was in January before sectarian killings surged.

Though substantially less than the 3,700 civilian deaths reported by the United Nations for October, the ministry data has consistently mirrored trends in other statistics.

A tally of civilian deaths reported to Reuters on a daily basis by police and other officials showed a rise of 45 percent in November to 1,706. It is certainly an under-estimate.

Maliki said after meeting Bush in Jordan on Thursday that his forces would be able to take over security command from U.S. troops by June 2007, a move which could allow Washington to start withdrawing.

The statement was in line with Maliki's previous forecasts that he would need six months to take over once a new, accelerated training programme was in place.

U.S. commanders have grave worries about the effectiveness of Iraqi police and troops and their sectarian loyalties. The Sunni minority views some units as hostile Shi'ite militias.

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