Iraqi security forces killed dozens of al-Qaeda militants who attacked a village in western Anbar province yesterday, during fierce clashes that lasted much of the day, police officials said today.
Sunni tribal leaders are involved in a growing power struggle with Sunni al-Qaeda for control of Anbar, a vast desert province that is the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq.
In Baghdad, US and Iraqi troops are engaged in a security crackdown to stop bloodshed between Shias and Sunni Arabs.
US and Iraqi military officials said troops would soon launch aggressive operations to seize weapons and hunt gunmen in the Shia militia bastion of Sadr City, signalling resolve to press ahead with the plan even in sensitive areas.
Dozens of loud explosions that sounded like mortar bombs rocked southern Baghdad in quick succession this evening, witnesses said. Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier Qassim Moussawi said the blasts were part of the new security offensive, Iraqiya state television reported, without giving details.
A US military spokeswoman said she had no information on the explosions. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said foreign Arabs and Afghans were among some 80 militants killed and 50 captured in the clashes in Amiriyat al Falluja, an Anbar village where local tribes had opposed al-Qaeda.
A police official in the area, Ahmed al-Falluji, put the number of militants killed at 70, with three police officers killed. There was no immediate verification of the numbers.
A US military spokesman in the nearby city of Falluja, Major Jeff Pool, said US forces were not involved in the battle but had received reports from Iraqi police that it lasted most of yesterday.
He could not confirm the number killed. Another police source in Falluja put the figure at dozens. "Because it was so many killed we can't give an exact number for the death toll," the police source said.
Witnesses said dozens of al-Qaeda members attacked the village, prompting residents to flee and seek help from Iraqi security forces, who sent in police and soldiers.
Elsewhere, a car bomb targeting a convoy of cars carrying guests at the wedding of an Iraqi policemen killed five people and wounded 10 in the western city of Falluja today, police said.
Iraq's neighbours have agreed to join US and British representatives to discuss the Iraqi security crisis at a regional conference on March 10th in Baghdad.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he will be issuing invitations shortly to the neighbouring countries, including Iran and Syria, and the five permanent UN Security Council members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - to send deputy foreign ministers or senior officials to the conference.
Mr Zebari said the Iranians agreed to participate in a meeting with the other neighbours, but "they have some questions" about a separate session that would be held the same day with the five permanent council members.
In the past, Iranian leaders have been vocal in accusing the United States of trying to use the UN as a way to "gang up" on it.
Syria and Egypt confirmed separately they would attend, but there was no immediate comment from Jordan or Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, Turkey and Kuwait were also invited, along with the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Arab countries had been reluctant to accept an invitation previously, because of Iraqi security issues as well as their hesitancy to be seen as supporting the Baghdad government by attending the gathering there, Arab diplomats said.