Tens of militants reported killed in Iraq raid

BAGHDAD, Feb 24 (Reuters) Iraqi troops supported by US aircraft killed ''tens'' of militants at a base just north of Baghdad early today, the Interior Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Brigadier Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said a large Iraqi force clashed with insurgents at the base in a rural area of Mashahda at dawn. U.S. air strikes destroyed the base.

''Tens of people were killed in the operation ... We wiped out their base,'' Khalaf said.

Khalaf said Interior Ministry forces captured Saad Akram Khalifa, a leader of the Islamic Army in Iraq, one of Iraq's largest Sunni insurgent groups. The majority of its fighters are believed to be former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

REUTERS MS PM1701