American Killed Near Iraq Border

A Marine was killed by small arms fire in Husaybah on Sunday, the military said. The New York Times, which has a journalist embedded with the U.S. forces, reported that three Marines were also wounded Sunday.

Elsewhere, an American soldier was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb near Tikrit, the U.S. command said. The latest deaths raised to at least 2,047 the number of members of the U.S. military who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Five people, including a woman, were killed and four were injured Monday in east Baghdad when a mortar shell exploded near a Turkomen club, police said. It was unclear if the club was the target.

U.S. officials have described Husaybah, which used to have a population of about 30,000, as a stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq, which is led by Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Husaybah is a main entry point for foreign fighters, weapons and ammunition entering from Syria. From Husaybah, the fighters head down the Euphrates valley to Baghdad and other cities.

CNN, which also had a reporter accompanying the Husaybah offensive, said at least one Iraqi soldier has been wounded and that as many as 80 insurgents have died in the fighting. Marine officers said the higher insurgent casualty figure was an estimate because many militants had died in U.S. airstrikes and their bodies have not been recovered.

In a live report from the scene Monday morning, CNN said the house-to-house battles were continuing, with ground forces supported by Humvees and tanks working their way through the narrow streets of the bleak desert town.

"We are meeting quite a bit of resistance here in Husaybah but the offensive is going well," Capt. Conlon Carabine said in an interview with CNN on Monday. "Our strategy is basically to kill the insurgents when we come across them."

Carabine said U.S. and Iraqi forces plan to establish a long-term presence in the town once the insurgents are routed. "Once we clear this town, we're going to stay in this town," he said. "We're not going to leave this population."

Davis said the militants were putting up a tough fight because "this area is near and dear to the insurgents, particularly the foreign fighters" because it is so close to the Syrian border.

"This has been the first stop for foreign fighters, and this is strategic ground for them," he said.

The U.S.-led assault includes about 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and will serve as a major test of the fledgling army's capability to battle insurgents — seen as essential to enabling the Bush administration to draw down its 157,000-strong military presence.

The Americans hope the Husaybah operation, codenamed "Operation Steel Curtain," will help restore enough security in the area so the Sunni Arab population can participate in Dec. 15 national parliamentary elections.

If the Sunnis win a significant number of seats in the new parliament, Washington hopes that will persuade more members of the minority to lay down their arms and join the political process, enabling U.S. and other international troops to begin withdrawing next year.

However, a protracted battle in Husaybah with civilian casualties risks a backlash in the Sunni Arab community, which provides most of the insurgents. Some Sunni politicians fear military operations will further alienate fellow Sunni Arabs.

In Baghdad, al-Dulaimi urged military commanders Monday "to halt their attacks against cities and take into consideration that innocent people should not be punished because of the actions of others."

But al-Dulaimi also urged Sunnis not to boycott the Dec. 15 ballot. The decision by many Sunnis to stay away from the polls during the January election enabled rival Shiites and Kurds to win an overwhelming majority in the current legislature.

"We will participate in the next elections in order to save Iraq and I call upon all political entities not to boycott the elections," al-Dulaimi added. "We will participate even if our houses were brought down upon us."