Some 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the Anbar province before dawn on Wednesday, launching the second major operation in this western region in less than a month.
"Right now there's a larger threat than should be in Haditha and we're here to tell them that they're not welcome," said Lt. Col. Lionel Urquhart, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, which is part of the operation.
According to The AP, the assault, called Operation New Market, focused on the city of Haditha. According to initial reports, three armed men were killed during several fierce gun battles that broke out after U.S. occupation forces entered this town before dawn, Marine Capt. Christopher Toland was quoted as saying. Two Marines were also injured, Toland added.
Elsewhere, about 3,000 Iraqi Shiite Muslim protesters staged a demonstration Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, to denounce recent comments made by a prominent Sunni leader who accused a Shiite militia of killing Sunni clerics.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on Syria Wednesday to stop the infiltration of foreign fighters across its borders into Iraq. Zebari said "there are responsibilities of the Syrian government to hamper and prevent this flow of terrorists from coming across."
