30 insurgents killed in fierce fighting
US and Iraqi forces swept through most of an insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border today, encountering pockets of fierce resistance, destroying five unexploded car bombs and killing at least 30 guerrilla fighters, the US command reported.
Three US Marines died during the last two days of the operation to clear the town of Obeidi, a statement said.
More than 80 insurgents have been killed, mostly in air strikes, in the same period, the statement said.
“Intelligence reports indicate that the strong resistance to the Iraqi and Coalition push into the city is due in large part to the fact that insurgents believe they are trapped and have nowhere else to go,” the military report said.
“Several detainees were captured trying to sneak out of the area by crawling among a flock of sheep.”
The US-Iraqi attack on Obeidi was the latest stage of an offensive to clear al Qaida-led insurgents from a string of towns and cities in the Euphrates River valley near the border with Syria and seal off a major infiltration route for foreign fighters sneaking into Iraq.
“Iraqi and coalition forces continue to clear the city house-by-house, occasionally encountering buildings that are rigged with explosives and triggered to detonate upon entering the building,” the statement said. “Numerous weapons caches have also been seized, to include several that contained suicide vests and bomb making material.”
Earlier this month, US and Iraqi forces overran two other towns in the area - Husaybah and Karabilah.
Unlike in previous sweeps in the area, the Americans and their Iraqi allies plan to establish a long-term presence to prevent insurgents from returning.
One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division died Tuesday from wounds incurred from a bomb that exploded yesterday. Another Marine from the same unit died from a roadside bomb in Obeidi, the same border town, a statement said.
The third Marine died from small arms fire, another statement said. He was assigned to the same unit.
At least 2,071 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,613 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
US officials have said the Euphrates Valley campaign is also aimed at encouraging Sunni Arabs there to vote in the December 15 parliamentary elections without fear of insurgent reprisals.
The Bush administration hopes that a successful election with strong Sunni Arab participation will encourage many in that community to abandon the insurgency.
Sunni leaders have repeatedly complained that the Shiite-led government has neglected their interests and that security forces have abused members of the religious minority.
In attacks aimed at Iraqi police on Tuesday, insurgents opened fire on a police patrol in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, three four, while a roadside bomb a few miles away killed two more police officers, Col Shirzad Mursi said. The son of an Iraqi contractor was also killed, he added.
In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded while a group of police gathered for a meeting, police Capt Haider Ibrahim said.
Two officers were among the four dead and seven people were injured, he said, which included two children who were selling vegetables nearby.
