Eight killed in U.S. offensive launched against Al-Qaida insurgents in Iraq
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at 19:32 on October 1, 2005, EST.
By MOHAMMED BARAKAT
QAIM, Iraq (AP) - About 1,000 U.S. troops, backed by attack helicopters and tanks, swept into a village near the Syrian border Saturday in a new offensive aimed at rooting out al-Qaida militants and stemming violence that has shaken Iraq ahead of a crucial vote on a new constitution.
Missiles fired by helicopters struck cars, sending plumes of smoke into the sky as the force moved into Sadah, residents said. In the evening, marines clashed in the streets with insurgents, and a Humvee was seen burning, they said.
Eight militants were killed in the day's fighting, the military said in a statement. In one clash, insurgents pulled up in vehicles, got out and opened fire on U.S. troops; the subsequent battle left four gunmen dead. The military said there were no U.S. casualties in the assault's first day.
The U.S. military said "al-Qaida in Iraq", the country's most prominent militant group behind a wave of suicide bombings, had taken control of Sadah. Foreign fighters were using it as a way station as they enter from Syria to join the insurgency, the military said.
The assault was the fourth large U.S. offensive in the border area since May. But militants who run rampant in large parts of western Iraq have proven difficult to drive out, moving back in to towns after the assaults are over and the bulk of troops withdraw.
Al-Qaida and other waged a stepped-up campaign of violence, killing at least 205 peopleSunni-led insurgents have this week in an attempt to wreck the upcoming Oct. 15 referendum on the constitution, a vital step in Iraq's political process.
Iraq's Sunni Arab minority opposes the draft charter, fearing it will split Iraq and consecrate Shiite and Kurdish domination.
Al-Qaida's group in Iraq has on April 28, suicide bombers have killed at least 1,345 people, according to an Associated Press count.declared "all-out war" on Shiites. Since a Shiite-majority government took power in Iraq
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at 19:32 on October 1, 2005, EST.
By MOHAMMED BARAKAT
QAIM, Iraq (AP) - About 1,000 U.S. troops, backed by attack helicopters and tanks, swept into a village near the Syrian border Saturday in a new offensive aimed at rooting out al-Qaida militants and stemming violence that has shaken Iraq ahead of a crucial vote on a new constitution.
Missiles fired by helicopters struck cars, sending plumes of smoke into the sky as the force moved into Sadah, residents said. In the evening, marines clashed in the streets with insurgents, and a Humvee was seen burning, they said.
Eight militants were killed in the day's fighting, the military said in a statement. In one clash, insurgents pulled up in vehicles, got out and opened fire on U.S. troops; the subsequent battle left four gunmen dead. The military said there were no U.S. casualties in the assault's first day.
The U.S. military said "al-Qaida in Iraq", the country's most prominent militant group behind a wave of suicide bombings, had taken control of Sadah. Foreign fighters were using it as a way station as they enter from Syria to join the insurgency, the military said.
The assault was the fourth large U.S. offensive in the border area since May. But militants who run rampant in large parts of western Iraq have proven difficult to drive out, moving back in to towns after the assaults are over and the bulk of troops withdraw.
Al-Qaida and other waged a stepped-up campaign of violence, killing at least 205 peopleSunni-led insurgents have this week in an attempt to wreck the upcoming Oct. 15 referendum on the constitution, a vital step in Iraq's political process.
Iraq's Sunni Arab minority opposes the draft charter, fearing it will split Iraq and consecrate Shiite and Kurdish domination.
Al-Qaida's group in Iraq has on April 28, suicide bombers have killed at least 1,345 people, according to an Associated Press count.declared "all-out war" on Shiites. Since a Shiite-majority government took power in Iraq
