Baghdad, Iraq – U.S. and Iraqi forces swept through most of an insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border on Tuesday, encountering pockets of fierce resistance, destroying five unexploded car bombs and killing at least 30 guerrilla fighters, the U.S. command reported.
Three U.S. Marines died during the last two days of the operation to clear the town of Obeidi, a military statement said.
More than 80 insurgents have been killed, mostly in airstrikes, in the same period, it said.
Separately, three U.S. Army soldiers were killed Tuesday in a roadside bombing near Baghdad, the U.S. command 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 of the border operation. “Several detainees were captured trying to sneak out of the area by crawling among a flock of sheep.”
The U.S.-Iraqi attack on Obeidi was the latest stage of an offensive to clear al-Qaeda-led insurgents from towns and cities in the Euphrates River valley near the border with Syria and seal off an 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,” the U.S. statement said. It said many weapons caches were seized, including several that contained suicide vests and bomb-making materials.
Earlier this month, U.S. and Iraqi forces overran two other towns in the area – Husaybah and Karabilah. 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 Monday. Another Marine from the same unit died Monday from a roadside bomb in Obeidi, and a third Marine from the unit was killed by small-arms fire Monday, the military said.
The three soldiers who died Tuesday were from the Army’s Task Force Baghdad and were killed northwest of the capital, the military said.
That brought to at least 2,071 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
