Iraqi commandos backed by US troops killed 84 insurgents in a battle to seize a training camp north of Baghdad, one of the highest guerrilla death tolls in the country's nearly two-year-old insurgency. Baghdad's Interior Ministry said the dead included Arab and foreign fighters. Seven police commandos were also killed in the clashes on Tuesday in a deserted region 160-km north-west of Baghdad, where sporadic fighting continued.
"Special forces in the Interior ministry attacked a training centre ... and had a fierce battle with the terrorists, killing 84 of them," Sabah Kadhim, a spokesman at the ministry told Reuters.
"Among the dead are Arab and foreign fighters, including Sudanese, Algerians and Moroccans, as well as other nationalities."
Officials said US helicopters and troops were called in as backup during the battle, which lasted several hours.
The fighting came as politicians in Baghdad pushed on with talks to decide the make-up of a government more than seven weeks after the election, amid growing frustration among Iraqis.
The US military confirmed a battle had taken place and that US forces were involved, but a spokesman said he had no details on the number of insurgents killed or captured. No US troops were wounded or killed in the fighting, he said.
"An early assessment of the site indicates a facility for training anti-Iraqi forces," said Major Richard Goldenberg of the US 42nd Infantry Division, using the US military's term for insurgents.
"Documentation at the facility indicates that some members of the AIF were foreign fighters."
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