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U.S. Troops Enter Samarra

1 October 2004 -- U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed into the rebel Iraqi stronghold of Samarra today to wrest control of the northern town from insurgents.

The U.S. military said 80 militants were killed in hours of fierce street fighting and air strikes.

A doctor at the town's main hospital said at least 21 civilians were also killed and 35 wounded in the clashes.

The assault began shortly after midnight with a series of air strikes and artillery barrages pounding targets in the town. The rebels fought back with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

The U.S. military said two U.S. soldiers were wounded during the operation in the city, around 100 kilometers north of Baghdad. They said troops destroyed many mortar sites, rocket-propelled grenade teams and vehicles used to carry insurgents.

The U.S. military said it will retake control of guerrilla strongholds like Samarra, the western cities of Al-Fallujah and Ramadi and the Baghdad districts of Al-Sadr City and Haifa Street by the end of the year so elections can go ahead in January.

The operation in Samarra came one day after at least 46 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of car bombings around Iraq's capital.

(Reuters/dpa/AP)

Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org