15 Qaeda fighters killed in Iraq: US military
BAGHDAD (AFP) — US and Iraqi troops killed 15 fighters of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq group during a day-long battle that also involved several former rebels turned allies of security forces, the US military said Tuesday.
On Monday, between 35 and 40 Al-Qaeda gunmen attacked two checkpoints manned by "concerned local citizens" (CLC), many of them former insurgents now siding with the security forces, in the town of Adwaniyah southeast of Baghdad, the military said.
"Two separate CLC checkpoints were attacked at approximately the same time," a military statement said.
It said the gunmen used both small arms and high-calibre machine guns loaded on trucks to attack the checkpoints.
During the battle US warplanes dropped two 500-pound (225-kilo) bombs on the roads used by the gunmen, the military said, adding that 15 militants were killed.
The CLC programme has picked up in recent months, with around 67,000 Iraqi citizens now guarding neighbourhoods and infrastructure with the help of US military.
The programme was launched when a group of Sunni Arab sheikhs joined hands last year to fight Al-Qaeda in the western Iraqi province of Al-Anbar.
