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US says air strike kills Iraq al Qaeda fighters

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 04:53 CDT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it had killed an al Qaeda militant named Abu Islam and a number of other fighters in air strikes on Karabila close to Qaim on the Syrian border on Tuesday.

"Intelligence leads Coalition forces to believe that Abu Islam and several of his associates were killed in the air strike," a spokeswoman said in Baghdad.

Earlier Arab television station Al Jazeera quoted doctors as saying at least 40 people were killed in an air strike near Qaim.

Al Jazeera said the U.S. forces had struck Qaim at 2:00 a.m. (2200 GMT on Monday). The U.S. spokeswoman said U.S.-led forces had "destroyed another terrorist safe haven" at 8:20 am.

"Two 500 pound precision-guided munitions were expended on each terrorist safe house," she said, adding that the military had "confirmatory information" that Abu Islam was dead. She said she had no precise information on casualties.

Abu Islam is an alias used by several known Islamist militants.

Qaim lies in the Euphrates valley, which U.S. forces say serves as a route into Iraq from Syria for foreign Islamist fighters.

U.S. marines have launched several ground offensives against insurgents in the area in the past four months but residents and local officials say Islamist insurgents remain a significant force in several towns along the river.

Source: REUTERS

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