US-led forces widen control in rebel Iraqi city

U.S.-led forces backed by warplanes tightened their grip on the rebel stronghold of Samarra yesterday, saying they had killed 125 rebels in one of the largest offensives since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The two-day offensive to retake Samarra, some 100 km north of Baghdad, also resulted in the capture of 88 insurgents, the commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division said.

Major General John Batiste told CNN that operations in the town would continue for several days.

Sporadic gunfire could be heard in the city centre yesterday, near a revered mosque, but otherwise the town was quiet two days after 5,000 US and Iraqi troops launched the operation, the first in a campaign to retake all rebel areas.

More than 80 bodies were brought in to Samarra's hospital on Friday, and five more yesterday. Others were left in the streets, with health workers too busy to collect them. The Iraqi Red Crescent said it had evacuated 25 wounded people late on Friday, including a young girl who later died.