U.S., Iraqi Forces In Operations Against Insurgents

12 October 2004 -- U.S. and Iraqi forces today intensified operations against insurgents in Iraq, attacking suspected militants across a wide area to the northwest of Baghdad.
U.S. warplanes attacked targets in Al-Fallujah overnight, destroying a restaurant and a house the U.S. military said was used by supporters of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born militant linked to Al-Qaeda. At least five people were reported killed and two wounded in those attacks.

U.S. warplanes also attacked targets in the town of Hit, killing at least two people.

In Ramadi, Iraqi forces backed by U.S. soldiers raided seven mosques suspected of being used by insurgents as storage areas for weapons and recruiting new fighters.

In the Baghdad suburb of Al-Sadr City, supporters of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were turning in their weapons for money under an agreement with Iraqi authorities.

The U.S. military in the area, however noted that not all fighters in Al-Sadr City agreed with al-Sadr's order to stop attacking U.S. and Iraqi government forces.

(AFP/AP)

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