US desert offensive targets insurgents

AMERICAN troops backed by helicopters and war planes have launched a major offensive against insurgents in a remote desert area near the Syrian border.

The US military said yesterday that about 75 militants were killed in the first 24 hours. Marines, sailors and soldiers from the 2nd Marine Division, are conducting the offensive in an area north of the Euphrates River, in the al-Jazirah Desert, a known smuggling route and sanctuary for foreign insurgents.

The brief statement did not specify when the operation began, how many troops were involved or whether there had been any American casualties.