The Iraqi army said it killed 14 insurgents and captured 35 on Tuesday as troops chased militants down the narrow streets of the rebel northern town of Tal Afar, on the fourth day of a major military assault.
The Iraqi army, backed up by US troops, launched its assault as Iraq's President Jalal Talabani said Washington could withdraw up to 50,000 troops by the end of the year as the Iraqi army became a credible fighting force in its own right. Iraqi troops launched the assault against Sunni insurgents on Saturday, risking further division in an already fragmented society nearly a month ahead of a referendum on a controversial constitution and the trial of ousted leader Saddam Hussein.
"Today we have captured 35 terrorists and killed 14," Iraqi Captain Mohammed Berwari told Reuters in Tal Afar, a mostly ethnic Turkmen town near the Syrian border.
The United States and Iraq say Tal Afar is a staging-post for arms and foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria, spreading across the country to join the Sunni Arab insurgency against the Kurdish- and Shi'ite Muslim-led Iraqi government.
TROOP WITHDRAWAL:
Talabani, on a visit to Washington, has played up the fact that Iraqi troops were leading the assault after a mass training programme by the US military to build up the Iraqi army. US officials say over 190,000 Iraqi troops are now battle-ready.
He told the Washington Post in an interview published on Tuesday that Iraq was now ready to take over some duties performed by US troops.
"We think that America has the full right to move some forces from Iraq to their country because I think we can replace them (with) our forces," Talabani said. "In my opinion, at least from 40,000 to 50,000 American troops can be (withdrawn) by the end of this year." A senior adviser to Talabani later said he had not intended to suggest a specific timeline for withdrawal.
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