Residents flee as US raids target al-Qaida suspects

RESIDENTS fled an Iraqi town on the Syrian border yesterday during a lull in fighting between 3,500 US and Iraqi troops and suspected al-Qaida insurgents armed with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Many walked out of Husaybah waving pieces of white cloth on sticks after coalition forces warned over loudspeakers that anyone leaving in vehicles would be shot, witnesses said.

Dozens of insurgents were killed by coalition forces in the town on Saturday, according to CNN, which had a reporter embedded with the US troops.