Hadithah, Iraq – About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the troubled Anbar province today, killing at least three insurgents after launching the second major operation in this vast western region in less than a month, an official said.
The offensives are aimed at uprooting insurgents who have killed more than 620 people since a new Iraqi government was announced April 28.
Helicopters swept down near palm tree groves, dropping off Marines who blocked off one side of Hadithah, while other troops on foot and in armored vehicles established checkpoints and began moving toward the center of this city, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. U.S. warplanes circled overhead.
“Right now there’s a larger threat than should be in Hadithah, and we’re here to tell them that they’re not welcome,” said Lt. Col. Lionel Urquhart, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, which is part of the operation.
The assault, called Operation New Market, focused on this city of about 90,000 people. Insurgents launched a multistage attack this month from a Hadithah hospital, killing four U.S. troops in an ambush that included a suicide car bomber, a roadside bomb and gunfire from fortified positions in the hospital, which was partially destroyed in the attack.
According to initial reports, three insurgents were killed in gun battles that broke out after U.S. forces entered Hadithah before dawn, Marine Capt. Christopher Toland told an Associated Press reporter embedded with U.S. forces. Two Marines were also wounded and evacuated, Toland said.
