US and Iraqi troops kill 100 in bid to seize Samarra

AMERICAN and Iraqi forces killed more than 100 Iraqis yesterday in a major assault to regain control of the insurgent stronghold of Samarra, trading gunfire with rebel fighters as they pushed toward the Iraqi city centre.

An estimated 3,000 troops of the US 1st Infantry Division, as well as those of the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi Army, moved in after midnight to secure government and police buildings in the city 60 miles north of Baghdad.

As they advanced, insurgents attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.