Dozens of rebels killed in fierce fighting

US troops killed dozens of insurgents near the Syrian border with Iraq after an ambush that left five marines dead.

The marines' deaths and those of five other troops yesterday pushed the US combat death toll for April to 99.

The fighting came as Spain’s Prime Minister gave an unexpected order to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq as soon as possible.

A day and a half of calm in the besieged city of Fallujah was broken yesterday when Marines battled gunmen around a mosque, killing six. The US military said it wanted continued calm so negotiations held over the weekend could resume today.

At least 40 Iraqis were killed in the weekend fighting in Fallujah and Husaybah, 240 miles west of Baghdad on the Syrian border.

Across Iraq, Saturday was one of the bloodiest days for the military since the latest uprising began. This month’s death toll has already surpassed the previous high in November, when 82 US servicemembers died.

A total of 115 US troops were killed in combat between the launch of the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the end of the war, declared on May 1 by President George Bush. A total 698 US troops have died in Iraq.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last week he had not anticipated such a high death toll, and Gen Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN’s ”Late Edition” that there was no way to predict casualties.

“This is combat, this is war. This is much more art than it is science,” Myers said. “There is no way to make a proper calculation.”

Three soldiers were killed when their 1st Armoured Division convoy was ambushed near the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah. Another died when a roadside bomb exploded near a military convoy in Baghdad, and a marine was killed in action in western Iraq, separate from the fighting by the Syrian border.

Another solider died in a tank rollover and another was electrocuted in an accident in the northern city of Samarra.

Rockets aimed at a military camp in western Baghdad hit a nearby civilian area, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding four others, as well as wounding two US civilian contractors and a soldier.

In Husaybah, insurgents ambushed a marine patrol on Saturday morning, sparking a battle throughout the day with up to 150 gunmen, Marine spokesman Lt. Eric Knapp said.

Fighting continued in three neighbourhoods of the city, which was sealed off by US forces.

Five marines and up to 30 insurgents were killed in Saturday’s fighting and four other Iraqis the following day, Knapp said. Some Marines were wounded, but Knapp did not give a number.

Also yesterday, a British soldier was wounded in fighting in the southern city of Amarah, a spokesman said. A military vehicle was seen burning while Iraqis nearby chanted slogans in favour of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The announcement of the Spanish troops’ pull-out came as a blow to the US led coalition.

Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the troops will now quit the Polish-controlled central zone in Iraq “in the shortest time possible” claiming he could not see the UN adopting a resolution satisfying Spain’s terms.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces will not be capable of protecting the country against insurgents by the June 30 handover of power, the top US administrator said in a blunt assessment.

Paul Bremer made the comments to defend the continued heavy presence of US troops in Iraq even after an Iraqi government takes sovereignty.

Coalition officials have been acknowledging for months that Iraqi police, security and military forces won’t be able to fight insurgents alone that the transfer of security duties from US forces to Iraqis will be slower than originally hoped.

But Bremer said the fighting across the country this month showed the problems with the security forces.

“Events of the past two weeks show that Iraq still faces security threats and needs outside help to deal with them. Early this month the foes of democracy overran Iraqi police stations and seized public buildings in several parts of the country,” he said. “Iraqi forces were unable to stop them.”

“It is clear that Iraqi forces will not be able, on their own, to deal with these threats by June 30 when an Iraqi government assumes sovereignty,” Bremer said in a statement issued by the US coalition.