U.S.-Iraqi troops backed by American warplanes battled insurgents for more than five hours in clashes near Fallujah that left eight killed and five Iraqi policemen wounded, the military said. The fighting started Tuesday morning when Iraqi police in Amiriyah, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Baghdad, came under mortar fire and Marine artillery units responded to the attack, forcing the insurgents to flee the scene, Marine spokesman 2nd Lt. Roger Hollenbeck said. Local police then killed two insurgents and wounded five in a gunbattle, Hollenbeck said in an e-mailed statement, adding that five policemen also were wounded. As enemy fire continued throughout the afternoon until U.S. warplanes targeted about 20 insurgents with guided munitions and strafing fire, killing six of them and destroying their vehicles, he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
