Jimcs50
03-23-2005, 01:49 PM
U.S., Iraqis say 85 militants killed in battle
Officials say fighters at Tikrit camp included foreign nationalsMSNBC News Services
Updated: 11:42 a.m. ET March 23, 2005BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a suspected guerrilla training camp and killed 85 fighters, the single biggest one-day death toll for militants in months and the latest in a series of blows to the insurgency, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.
"Among the dead are Arab and foreign fighters, including Sudanese, Algerians and Moroccans, as well as other nationalities," Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim told Reuters.
“An early assessment of the site indicates a facility for training anti-Iraqi forces,” said Major Richard Goldenberg of the U.S. 42nd Infantry Division, using the U.S. military’s term for insurgents. “Documentation at the facility indicates that some members of the AIF were foreign fighters.”
The U.S. military announced late Tuesday that its air and ground forces backed Iraqi commandos during a noontime raid on the suspected training camp near Lake Tharthar in central Iraq. Seven commandos died in fighting, the U.S. military said. It did not give a death toll for the militants.
Iraqi officials said Wednesday 85 insurgents died in the clash — the largest number killed in a single battle since the U.S. Marine-led November attack on the former militant stronghold of Fallujah left more than 1,000 dead.
Officials say fighters at Tikrit camp included foreign nationalsMSNBC News Services
Updated: 11:42 a.m. ET March 23, 2005BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a suspected guerrilla training camp and killed 85 fighters, the single biggest one-day death toll for militants in months and the latest in a series of blows to the insurgency, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.
"Among the dead are Arab and foreign fighters, including Sudanese, Algerians and Moroccans, as well as other nationalities," Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim told Reuters.
“An early assessment of the site indicates a facility for training anti-Iraqi forces,” said Major Richard Goldenberg of the U.S. 42nd Infantry Division, using the U.S. military’s term for insurgents. “Documentation at the facility indicates that some members of the AIF were foreign fighters.”
The U.S. military announced late Tuesday that its air and ground forces backed Iraqi commandos during a noontime raid on the suspected training camp near Lake Tharthar in central Iraq. Seven commandos died in fighting, the U.S. military said. It did not give a death toll for the militants.
Iraqi officials said Wednesday 85 insurgents died in the clash — the largest number killed in a single battle since the U.S. Marine-led November attack on the former militant stronghold of Fallujah left more than 1,000 dead.