Sporadic clashes broke out in some Sunni districts in Baghdad yesterday, immediately after a Baghdad court sentenced the ousted president Saddam Hussein to death, an Interior Ministry source and witnesses said.

"Fierce clashes erupted in Zaafaraniyah neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad between insurgents and Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops, wounding at least five people," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear whether there were more casualties as the heavy gunfire and powerful explosions prevented rescue teams from entering the area, the source said.

Elsewhere, clashes in Fadhil district in central Baghdad resulted in death of an Iraqi army officer, he added.

Another Sunni area in western Baghdad, Ameriyah, also witnessed gunbattle between unknown gunmen and Iraqi Army troops backed by U.S. troops, the source said.

Meanwhile, the local witnesses reported that a checkpoint in Kadraa district was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns just before the sunset.

They said that clashes were also seen in Azamiyah neighborhood when a group of angry gunmen traded gunfire with Iraqi soldiers and U.S. troops.

Earlier in the day, Saddam and two of his senior aids were sentenced to death by hanging after the Iraqi High Tribunal found them guilty of crimes against humanity over the execution of 148 Shiite villagers of Dujail in crackdown on the town after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

The verdicts immediately aroused different reactions across the war-torn country, where the Shiite community celebrated while the Sunnis demonstrated.