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30 more insurgents killed in Iraq

* 10 others including two US Marines dead

BAGHDAD: US and Iraqi forces fighting insurgents near the Syrian border encountered fierce resistance on Tuesday, with troops encountering 107 explosive booby traps and killing at least 30 insurgents, a military statement said.

The US command said on Tuesday that three US Marines have died in combat while trying to clear the town of Obeidi as part of Operation Steel Curtain since Monday. At least 80 insurgents have been killed, mostly in air strikes, in the same period, the statement said.

“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.”

The US-Iraqi attack on Obeidi was the latest stage of an offensive to clear Al-Qaeda-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.

“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.”

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.

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.

One Marine from assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division died on Tuesday from wounds incurred from a bomb that exploded on Monday. Another Marine from the same unit died on Monday from a roadside bomb in Obeidi, the same border town, a statement said.

As of Tuesday, Nov 15, 2005, 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.

In attacks aimed at Iraqi police on Tuesday, insurgents opened fire on a police patrol in Kirkuk, killing four, while a roadside bomb a few kilometres away injured three more police officers, Col. Shirzad Mursi said.

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. reuters

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