Iraq: American forces in Iraq have stormed the rebel-held town of Samarra, saying they killed more than 100 insurgents, as coalition forces try to establish control in the Sunni triangle. Jack Fairweather reports from Baghdad.
The operation comes after "repeated attacks" on government and coalition forces has made the town a no-go zone, the US military said.
Samarra, 80 miles from Baghdad, lies at the heart of the Sunni Arab belt north and west of the capital where many towns are under the control insurgents.
US and Iraqi officials say they will pacify the area ahead of national elections in January.
The US military said 109 fighters and one US soldier were killed in the offensive. Doctors at Samarra's hospital said 47 bodies were brought in, including 11 women and five children.
The fighting comes a day after three suspected suicide bombers killed more than 40, including 34 children, in Baghdad. An internet statement admitted responsibility for the Baghdad attack in the name of the Tawhid and Jihad group, which is also holding hostage Briton Kenneth Bigley.
The assault on Samarra began shortly after midnight with air strikes and artillery barrages pounding the mainly Sunni Muslim town. US and Iraqi troops backed by tanks and armoured vehicles pushed through the old city in darkness as militants unleashed mortar attacks and fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles from the rooftops.
By yesterday afternoon, Iraqi police had taken control of Samarra's Shia golden Mosque, although fighting continued.
American soldiers from the US 1st Infantry Division had sealed off the town, but were allowing some civilians to flee.
"Iraqi police are now in control of the city centre," an Interior ministry official said. He said Iraqi troops had seized 25 rebels inside the Ali Hadi mosque, one of the most revered in the Shia world.
Less than three weeks ago, the US military entered the troubled city to reinstate the city council, which had disbanded earlier under terrorist threat. Although hailed as a success at the time, insurgents quickly returned and cowed local forces when US forces left.
Earlier this week men dressed in black were reported to have set up checkpoints throughout the city and were ordering drivers to exchange music cassettes for taped readings from the Koran.
"We've seen this sort of pattern before," a US military official said. "We try and negotiate with these guys and set a local government, but they keep folding. This time we've had to go in properly."
As 3,500 US troops with Iraqi support moved in the early hours of the morning, they appeared to catch insurgents by surprise.
Guerrillas were seen unloading weapons and ammunition from two speedboats on the Tigris River in the town, the military said. Troops opened fire and destroyed the boats. The US military said troops destroyed several mortar sites, rocket-propelled grenade teams and guerrilla vehicles as it closed in on the mosque in the centre of the city.
Apache attack helicopters circled the area, firing rockets at rooftops where insurgents hid as soldiers fought street by street.
One resident of the city said that 10 per cent of houses in the old city had been destroyed.
Residents claim that foreign fighters loyal to the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zaraqwi were responsible for much of the fighting.
The town also had a large number of military officers from the former regime who have been unimpressed with American reconstruction efforts.
At a US checkpoint, a man said insurgents were still carrying weapons into the city. "My two brothers have gone to fight. I pray they have not been killed," he said.