U S says 12 militants killed in Iraq gunfight

RAMADI, Iraq, Feb 22 (Reuters) U S forces killed at least 12 insurgents and wounded three in a six-hour gunbattle in Ramadi involving heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and air strikes, the U S military said today.

First Lieutenant Shawn Mercer, a spokesman for U S Marines operating in western Iraq, said the battle started yesterday evening when gunmen attacked US forces in the east of Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold in Anbar province.

''The scale of the fight eventually led to coalition forces using precision guided munitions (air strikes) and causing damage to a number of structures,'' Mercer said in an email response to questions.

Residents in Ramadi said three buildings were destroyed in the clashes. A civil defence official and an ambulance driver, both of whom declined to be identified, said as many as 26 people were killed, including some women and children.

Mercer denied that. ''We have no reports of civilian casualties and there were no coalition casualties,'' he said.

''The firefight lasted approximately six hours, and resulted in at least 12 AIF (anti-Iraqi forces) killed and three wounded,'' Mercer said.

REUTERS BDP HT1830