US troops battle with insurgents in western Iraqi town

The US troops continued on Thursday its offensive against insurgents and foreign fighters in and around the western Iraqi town of Qaim near the borders with Syria.

"Fierce clashes continued between US troops and militants in Karabla and Rumman villages north and west of Qaim," Muhammed Khalaf, a local resident told Xinhua.

"The US troops could not enter Karabla till now for the stubborn resistance of the militants who made use of the terrain in the northwestern part of the town," Khalaf said.

Despite the US denial, the villagers said two US helicopters were shot down in the area.

"We saw the two helicopters shot down in Fahaida Valley close to Karabla," Hazzae Abdulla and Muniem Khamis, two residents from Karabla told Xinhua.

They also confirmed that US jet fighters and helicopters continued pounding the residential areas in Karabla and dozens of innocent people were buried under their destroyed houses.

"It is impossible to reach them because of the US shelling and the clashes," they said.

Hamdi al-Alousi, chief of Qaim Hospital told pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel that medics managed to evacuate some dead and wounded on Wednesday but were prevented by the US soldiers from approaching the area on Thursday.

The US military said they had lost 14 soldiers in the clashes near and around Qaim.

Residents of nearby villages started to evacuate after they were warned that the US troops were preparing for a new offensive in their villages.

Seven days of siege and clashes in Qaim, some 350 km west of Baghdad, left the residents in shortages of food, water and medicine.

The US Marines were launching an offensive code-named "Operation Matador" against insurgents in an open desert north of the Euphrates River, known by the US military as a smuggling route for foreign fighters.

Source: Xinhua