US, Iraqi forces kill over 100 insurgents in Ramadi

BAGHDAD, May 2 (Reuters) U S and Iraqi forces killed more than 100 insurgents last week in the town of Ramadi in the rebel heartland of Anbar province, the U.S. military said today.

Two Iraqi soldiers died in the fighting and no Americans were killed, the military said in a written response, confirming a media report. It did not provide more details.

Reuters witnesses in Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles), west of Baghdad, said there were heavy clashes last week between U.S. forces and insurgents inside Ramadi but could not independently confirm such a high number of insurgents killed.

Ramadi is a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces and the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.

REUTERS CH VC1615