The US army said today it has killed 70 people in a combined air and land assault on a "training camp" in western Iraq, and 27 people who it said ambushed a US tank patrol north of Baghdad in operations in the last two days.
Last Monday, US forces launched their biggest operation in more than six weeks to kill or capture armed Iraqis in the area resisting the American occupation.
A US army spokesman said the mission, called Operation Peninsula Strike, was winding down today. He declined to give an estimate of civilian casualties from the operation.
Angry locals say houses were ransacked and residentsdetained, assaulted and shot during the US sweep through the restive, mainly Sunni Muslim area. They say the operation hasfuelled bitter resentment towards Iraq's US occupiers.
The US spokesman said American forces were careful to minimise civilian casualties and damage to property.
"We understand that such operations are going to cause some resentment," he said. "But the people we are targeting are those who would do us harm."
US officers say Saddam loyalists are behind attacks and ambushes in central Iraq that have killed some 40 US soldiers in the past six weeks.
The US army said foreign fighters were believed to be among the dead from Thursday's raid on the alleged terrorist camp in western Iraq, but declined to give nationalities.
"There are indications that there were foreign fighters involved in the camp," the spokesman said.
Arab volunteers from several countries fought with Iraqi forces during the war launched on March 20th.