BAGHDAD, June 18: The US military said on Saturday it had killed about 50 activists while suicide car bombings left 10 people dead in Al-Anbar. The activists died when the military pressed on with two offensives in the restive western province of Al-Anbar near the border with Syria.

Fighting raged for the second day on Saturday in “Operation Spear” in Karabilah as 1,000 US marines and Iraqi soldiers swept through the region, near the border with Syria, in search of insurgents and weapons.

“Approximately 50 insurgents have been killed since the operation began yesterday morning,” said US Captain Jeffrey Pool. “There have been no additional reports of military or civilian casualties as a result of the operation.” He said troops found four Iraqi hostages.

The United States claims insurgents cross into the country from Syria along its porous border, where US marine air strikes killed about 40 people on June 11.

In a further effort to restrict the movement of insurgents operating in Anbar, another US-Iraqi force of about 1,000 men focused on an area around Lake Tharthar, about 85km northwest of Baghdad, as part of “Operation Dagger”.

“Operation Khanjar (Dagger) is focused on locating hidden weapons caches and denying insurgents sanctuary in the area that is a suspected insurgent and terrorist logistical hub,” the US military said.

HOSTAGE: Meanwhile, the kidnappers of a Turkish businessman taken hostage last month in Iraq have asked for a ransom of “several million dollars” to free the man, his family told AFP on Saturday.—AFP