World

U.S. Strike Kills 60 Insurgents

September 17, 2004 / 5:32 AM EDT / CBS/AP

U.S. forces launched attacks Thursday in the western towns of Fallujah and Ramadi, hunting insurgents belonging to the network of terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a military statement said.

The military said that up to 60 "foreign fighters" were killed during the strikes near Fallujah. However, hospital officials in Fallujah said the city was calm and that they had not received any casualties.

The military launched what it called a "precision strike" against a house in Fallujah and followed it with a second strike in a nearby town. The second strike destroyed three buildings allegedly used by Zarqawi's network.

"Those foreign fighters who escaped the initial strike fled into the town of Qaryat ar Rufush," the military said. The second strike targeted three buildings in which 90 fighters had allegedly taken refuge.

Separately, the military launched an action in the nearby town of Ramadi dubbed "Operation Hurricane," which targeted the little-known "Daham terrorist network," which allegedly is tied to Al-Zarqawi.

The operation began at 3 a.m. Thursday and involved both Marines and soldiers, the statement from the 1st Marine Division said. One Marine was injured in the operation, military said.

Anti-American sentiments run high in Fallujah and Ramadi, Sunni insurgent strongholds west of the capital. The insurgents are bent on driving coalition forces from the country.

Dr. Abdel Munim Aftan, head of the Ramadi General Hospital said that seven people died and five were wounded.

In other developments:

Gunmen abducted two Americans and a Briton in a brazen attack Thursday on a residence in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood housing many embassies and foreign companies. The three were all employees of Gulf Services Company, a Middle East-based construction firm.

Kidnappers in Iraq have released a Jordanian truck driver following his company's decision to stop working in Iraq, a Jordanian Foreign Ministry official said.

A U.S. Humvee hit a roadside bomb south of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, the military said in a statement. Witnesses said the vehicle was ablaze on a main road near the city. There was no immediate word on casualties.

A mortar round exploded in central Baghdad, killing one person and injuring 10 others, authorities said.

Britain rejected a claim by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the U.S.-led Iraq war was "illegal" because Washington and its coalition allies never got Security Council backing for the invasion. Annan told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Wednesday that the U.S.-led invasion did not conform to the United Nations charter.

The National Intelligence Council presented President Bush this summer with several pessimistic scenarios regarding the security situation in Iraq, including the possibility of a civil war there before the end of 2005.