US says 23 militants killed in Iraq battle

Baghdad, July 3: US forces killed at least 23 insurgents suspected of having links with al Qaeda during a fierce battle in Iraq's western Anbar province over the weekend, the military said today.

The military said US and Iraqi forces, backed by war planes and helicopters, confronted a large group of militants as they were preparing to launch a series of suicide bomb attacks in the Anbar capital Ramadi, 110 km west of Baghdad.

''Coalition and Iraqi security forces received reports that a significant number of anti-Iraqi forces had gathered on the outskirts of Ramadi to stage a series of large-scale attacks,'' the military said in a statement.

''The group, affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq, intended to regain a base of operations in Al Anbar with suicide car and vest bomb attacks.'' Anbar was once the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency and the most dangerous region for American soldiers in Iraq.

But local Sunni Arab tribes began to turn against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda last year, angered by the militant group's indiscriminate killing of civilians and harsh intepretation of Islam in the areas it held sway.

Many al Qaeda militants have since been driven out of Anbar and into provinces north of Baghdad.

The US military described the weekend fighting as a ''battle'', saying it began on Saturday and continued into Sunday.

It said a search of the area following the clashes found 22 dead insurgents, including seven who were wearing suicide vests.

Another militant was killed later on Sunday.

''Most of the enemy were dressed in similar white dishdasha (robes) and white running shoes, an outfit often associated with extremist fighters prepared to kill themselves,'' the statement said.

''Helicopter gun ships and fighter jets provided aerial surveillance and engaged multiple enemy positions, including the destruction of an enemy bunker complex with precision guided munitions.'' The US military has described its cooperation with the Sunni Arab tribes in Anbar as one of the biggest success stories in Iraq in recent months.

Reuters>