US soldiers kill 29 in Iraq offensive

Iraq, the military says.

The latest offensive came after US President George W Bush vowed not to waver in his campaign against global Islamic extremism.

Military officials also said six more Marines had died in roadside bomb attacks, raising the US death toll since the 2003 invasion of Iraq to at least 1,948.

Major General Stephen Johnson said that in the week-long operation, dubbed "Iron Fist", the militants his forces faced were mostly local people, not foreign Islamists.

"They are generally young people, 20 to 30 years old. They are day labourers, agricultural workers and there are a lot of unemployed," Maj Gen Johnson said, calling the Iraqi fighters "foot soldiers for extremists".

The military said two Marines died when a roadside bomb exploded near Qaim in western Iraq and four more were killed by a car bomb near the central city of Fallujah, a stronghold of Sunni Arab opposition to the US-backed Baghdad government.

Iraq is struggling through a stepped-up campaign of insurgent bombings, suicide attacks and kidnappings before a vote on a new constitution in a week's time.

The October 15 constitutional referendum and an election for a new parliament in December have fired tensions between the Shiite majority and the Sunni Arab minority, which dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein but now fears political eclipse.

Many Sunni leaders share the goals of some insurgents - ending US occupation and curbing the power of Shiite majority rule.

One prominent Sunni said on Friday that US forces and the militants should agree on a cease-fire during Ramadan, which started this week, as a prelude to direct talks.

"The fighting should stop," said Saleh al-Mutlak, who represents the National Dialogue movement.

"We have fought for two-and-a-half years and the problem is it doesn't work," he said in an interview.

Mr Mutlak's comments came as US officials said the campaign near the Syrian border in western Iraq was scoring successes with about 1,000 troops fighting to shut what they say is a key route for arms and foreign extremist fighters into the country.

At least 20 alleged militants were killed on Wednesday when US aircraft bombed a hotel that militants had commandeered in the town of Qusayba, while nine others died in other exchanges with US forces, the military said.

Mr Bush, in a major speech on the Iraq war on Thursday, told Americans the fight was central to blocking militant plans for a radical Islamic empire stretching across the globe.

-Reuters

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