A 96-hour assignment has turned into an open-ended mission for some Hawai'i Stryker brigade soldiers in Baghdad as fighting continues in Sadr City against militants loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

About 150 soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry "Gimlets" out of Schofield Barracks were sent into the Baghdad slum on March 26.

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army has fought battles with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Sadr City after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on militias loyal to al-Sadr in Basra in the south. The fighting has spilled over into the capital.

"We had some significant contact when we first arrived," Capt. Scott Bailey, a Schofield soldier, said in an Army release.

A lull was ended by fresh fighting three days ago in Sadr City.

"We definitely helped stop the shooting, but only time will tell if we help the people improve their future," said Staff Sgt. James Dean of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

At least 12 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since Sunday; none have been identified as being from Hawai'i. A curfew was to be in effect today in Baghdad on the fifth anniversary of the fall of the city to U.S. forces.

The Schofield soldiers had moved to Joint Security Station Ur with Iraqi security forces in support of the recent combat operations. An Iraqi army checkpoint was mortared and Iraqi soldiers left the post, officials said.

Bailey said he wasn't sure when the Hawai'i soldiers will leave and head back to their regular area of operations.

More than 4,000 Stryker brigade soldiers are operating primarily in the areas of Taji and Tarmiya, just north of Baghdad.