The Iraqi army has killed up to 200 people in Tal Afar, military officials said today, as troops tackle suspected insurgents in the northern town.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari defied a $100,000 bounty placed on his head by a militant Islamic group to visit the scene of the insurgency. A senior officer in Tal Afar said he expected the fighting to be over by Thursday.
The Iraqi army, backed up by US troops, launched an assault early on Saturday against an estimated 350 to 500 insurgents in the town near the Syrian border.
Iraq's Third Army Brigade launched a fresh offensive today, killing 40 suspects and arresting 21 "terrorist emirs," or senior insurgent leaders
in an operation ending at around 5.15pm (2.15 Irish time), an army spokesman said.
"We also seized a cache of heavy weaponry, including mortars, artillery, explosives, TNT, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades," he said.
The defence ministry official in charge of operations in Tal Afar said his forces were nearly in control of western areas of the city.