Nine dead in US assault in Iraq

The U.S. military yesterday said nine of its troops were killed in an offensive against insurgents and foreign fighters in western Iraq, and guerrillas struck again in Baghdad, leaving at least five people dead.

Backed by air power, US Marines, sailors and soldiers have been trying to root out guerrillas in the rebellious Anbar province to weaken an insurgency that has escalated attacks since a new Iraq government was announced on April 28. The assault, in its seventh day, is designed to hunt guerrillas in one of their strongholds near the Syrian border.

Insurgents struck again in the capital when a suicide car bomber blew himself up next to an Iraqi police patrol in central Baghdad, killing at least four people, police sources said.

The blast echoed across central Baghdad and thick black smoke rose from burning vehicles in what has become a daily scene since Iraq announced a cabinet. In a second attack, insurgents hurled grenades at a police convoy in western Baghdad, killing one policeman.

Police yesterday found three beheaded corpses in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad. Hospital officials said the victims had been tortured. Insurgents have shot or beheaded scores of Iraqis they suspect of working with American forces.

Guerrilla suicide and car bombings have killed more than 400 people in violence that has piled pressure on Iraq's new leaders to deliver on promises of stability. Although bombings have targeted mostly police and security forces, Iraqi civilians have also suffered heavy losses. In the oil refining town of Baiji, a car bomb blast killed five Iraqis on Friday evening, police said.

Two policemen and two civilians were killed in clashes in the town of Samarra yesterday, police Captain Hashem al-Sulami said.

Iraqi officials hope the country's security forces will improve after two years of US training and eventually take over security. But they can still hardly defend themselves - thousands have been killed - and US troops still have to conduct major operations against guerrillas like the one in Anbar.

The US military estimated about 100 guerrillas were killed in Operation Matador. Four of the American troops killed were in an amphibian vehicle, which hit an explosive device on Wednesday, the military said.