U.S.: 100 Militants Killed In Iraq

(CBS/AP)  American troops backed by helicopters and war planes launched a major offensive against followers of Iraq's most wanted insurgent, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a desert area near the Syrian border, and as many as 100 militants were killed, U.S. officials said Monday.

Marines, sailors and soldiers from Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, were conducting the offensive in an area north of the Euphrates River, in the al-Jazirah Desert, a known smuggling route and sanctuary for foreign insurgents, the military said.

The brief statement did not specify when the operation began, how many troops were involved, or whether there had been any American casualties. But U.S. military spokesmen later said the offensive started on Saturday and that it had killed as many as 100 militants. The military also reported that two U.S. Marines were killed in the area on Sunday and one on Monday.

A senior U.S. military official said the operation is targeting a group of al-Zarqawi followers believed to be operating in the area. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is leader of the terrorist group al Qaeda in Iraq. He has declared allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and is tied to many bombings and kidnappings since the U.S.-led invasion removed Saddam Hussein from power two years ago.

The offensive is one of the largest involving U.S. troops since American and Iraqi forces took over the insurgent bastion of Fallujah in November. Two weeks ago, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers completed a four-day operation against insurgents north of Baghdad where a civilian helicopter was shot down.

In other recent developments:

Iraqi militants claimed in a Web posting that they took a Japanese security contractor hostage after ambushing a convoy of foreigners and Iraqi troops in western Iraq. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army identified the Japanese hostage as Akihito Saito, 44, and posted a photocopy of his passport, including his picture, on the group's official Web site. It said Saito was "severely injured" in the fight. In Tokyo, Japan's foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, confirmed that a Japanese employee of a security firm was kidnapped in Iraq, the Kyoto news agency reported.

At least three Iraqis were killed in a suicide car bombing at police checkpoint at a busy Baghdad intersection, said police Maj. Mousa Abdul Karim. The dead included two policemen and a civilian. Six other policemen and three civilians were wounded, he said.

At least three other car bombs exploded in Baghdad later Monday, including one that wounded an unidentified number of Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint, said U.S. military spokesman Master Sgt. Greg Kaufman.

On the outskirts of Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, residents found five corpses on a street Sunday. Associated Press Television News footage showed the victims, including one wearing a military uniform, lying on the side of the road near three charred cars. It was not immediately clear how or when they died.

The U.S. military said it had conducted several raids Sunday in and around Baghdad, detaining 13 suspected insurgents, some armed with rocket- propelled grenades.

Monday, the U.S. military accused insurgents of using patients as human shields during a four-hour battle in Haditha on Saturday, even after one of their bombs set fire to the hospital. An unspecified number of militants were killed, the military said.

Australia's top Muslim cleric left Monday for Baghdad to try to win the release of an Australian hostage. Militants who kidnapped Douglas Wood, 63, who lives in Alamo, Calif., released a video Friday demanding that Australia start pulling its troops out of Iraq within 72 hours.

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