Al least 40 insurgents killed in Iraq clashes
BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S.-led forces killed more than 40 Sunni Arab fighters in a series of ferocious battles south of Baghdad, military officials said Monday. Officials also announced the deaths of four U.S. service members, including two soldiers killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter in the area of the insurgent clashes.
The combat on Sunday and Monday appeared to be larger in scale than previous encounters in the area. The first attack took place near the town of Yusufiyah when U.S.-led troops and aircraft moved in on a suspected insurgent safe house, the military said. The aircraft attacked both the house and a vehicle parked outside, resulting in a chain reaction of explosions. Two suspected insurgents were killed and four were detained, the military said.
As helicopters departed, carrying two women who were injured in the blasts, the insurgents opened fire on them from another location, the military said. The ground troops called for more air support, and jets and helicopters pounded the enemy positions, killing approximately 20 more suspected insurgents.
During the battle, three other fighters in a truck tried to break through a security perimeter, but they were shot by ground troops, the military said. One of the three detonated a vest containing explosives, killing himself but no one else.
The downing of the helicopter took place near Yusufiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town about 10 miles south of the capital, the military said in a brief statement. A U.S. military spokesman reached by telephone said he could not elaborate on the circumstances of the incident for reasons of operational security.
Mudhaffar al-Qaraghouli, a tribal leader in the area south of Baghdad, said that after the American helicopter was shot down, a powerful airstrike by U.S.-led forces caused many families in the area to flee. The strike killed several civilians, he said, and leveled houses. “We spent a long, scary night with our families and children,” al-Qaraghouli said.
U.S. forces, however, denied that civilians were killed.