U.S.: 109 insurgents killed in major offensive
 |  U.S. troops secure a street crossing in a Samarra market Friday. |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 U.S., Iraqi forces strike insurgents in Samarra, Iraq.
 CNN's Brent Sadler reports on the latest fighting in Iraq.
 Car bomb detonates near base in western Baghdad.
|
|
SAMARRA, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 109 insurgents and one American soldier were killed overnight in a major offensive launched by U.S. and Iraqi forces in the city of Samarra, U.S. military officials said Friday.
In the largest operation seen in Iraq's Sunni Triangle city in months, an estimated 3,000 U.S. troops moved into Samarra late Thursday. It was a response to what the United States called "repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces."
"This, they say, is the definitive battle for Samarra," CNN correspondent Jane Arraf said amid heavy fire Friday morning as she traveled with the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division.
Dr. Khalid Ahmed said at least 80 bodies and more than 100 wounded were brought to Samarra General Hospital, but it was not immediately clear how many were insurgents. The hospital was running out of supplies, Ahmed said.
Also Friday, U.S. warplanes and tanks attacked the vast Baghdad slum of Sadr City, The Associated Press reported.
"We will spare no effort to clean all the Iraqi lands and cities from these criminals and we will pave the way through these operations not only for the reconstruction but also for the general elections," said Qasim Dowoud, minister of state for national security, according to the AP.
In eastern Falluja Friday night, a U.S. airstrike destroyed two houses and killed four people, witnesses told CNN.
The U.S. military called it "a precision strike on yet another confirmed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terrorist site" and insisted only terrorists, not civilians, would have been killed.
"Several credible intelligence sources confirmed that members of the terrorist group used this location to plan for suicide attacks on innocent civilians and Iraqi forces," the military said in a news release from Baghdad.
The military statement said intelligence indicated "no innocent civilians" were in the house when it was attacked, and their sources reported "approximately 10 terrorists" were there.
In recent weeks, U.S. warplanes have hammered targets almost daily in Falluja, where the terror network of al-Zarqawi is said to be based, and the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, a stronghold of support for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
In Samarra, several hundred insurgents and 65 foreign fighters are believed to have seized control of the city north of Baghdad, a senior U.S. official said.
The offensive is centered around the al-Askari mosque, a Shiite mosque in a largely Sunni town. Also known as the Golden Mosque, it's very important to Shiites across the globe and it is regularly visited by pilgrims.
Iraqi forces found weapons inside the mosque and on the rooftop.
Many Samarra residents had fled the city in anticipation of the military offensive, residents told Arraf.
A statement released by the U.S. military said government and police buildings in Samarra had been secured by troops from the Iraqi national guard, Iraqi army and the 1st Infantry Division.
A day after the offensive started, fighting continued and scattered gunfire punctuated the evening. Military officials said they have retaken about half of the city.
After the transfer to Iraq sovereignty in June, the U.S. military agreed to stop patrolling Samarra.
But as insurgent attacks continued, U.S. forces returned to patrols three weeks ago, after Iraqi and coalition forces restored Samarra's City Council to power.
The forces in the city also freed a Turkish citizen held by unknown captors.
Bloody day in Baghdad
On Thursday, explosions in Baghdad claimed at least 41 lives, about 35 of them children.
Many more children were wounded when car bombs exploded at a community celebration where U.S. soldiers were handing out candy.
Another car bomb killed a U.S. soldier and two Iraqi police officers.
An Islamist Web site with ties to the Unification and Jihad group posted a message it said is from the group's military wing, claiming responsibility for three suicide attacks.
The group, believed to be led by al-Zarqawi, has claimed responsibility for beheading two Americans last week -- Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong.
Senior military officials say U.S. and Iraqi troops in the past month have killed or captured more than 100 al-Zarqawi associates and have killed six members of al-Zarqawi's inner circle.
Other developments:
Al-Jazeera on Friday aired what it claims is a new audiotape from al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, with remarks on hot spots in the Muslim world -- "Palestine," Iraq, Chechnya and Afghanistan. Its authenticity has not been verified. The voice on the tape says the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians remains the focus of the resistance. (Full story)The British government said it was ready to listen to kidnappers holding British hostage Ken Bigley in Iraq but was not prepared to negotiate or pay a ransom. (Full story)CNN's Jane Arraf, Brent Sadler, Mike Mount, Ayman Mohyeldin, Ingrid Formanek, Faris Qasira, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
