Iraq says police kill dozens of al Qaeda in Anbar

BAGHDAD, Mar 1 (Reuters) Iraqi security forces said they had killed dozens of al Qaeda insurgents who attacked a village near Falluja in western Iraq yesterday, sparking fierce clashes for much of the day, officials said today.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf told Reuters foreign Arabs and Afghanis were among some 80 militants killed and 50 captured in the clashes in Amiriyat al Falluja, a village where local tribes had opposed al Qaeda.

A US spokesman in Falluja, Major Jeff Pool, said US forces were not involved in the battle but had received reports from Iraqi police that it lasted most of the day yesterday. He could not confirm the number killed or captured.

A police source in Falluja said dozens were killed. ''Because there were so many killed we can't give an exact number for the death toll,'' the source said.

There was no immediate verification of the number of casualties from medical sources.

REUTERS SY BST2125