TIKRIT, Nov 16: US forces on Sunday fired a satellite-guided missile in northern Iraq, for the first time since the end of major combat, targeting a site used by suspected anti-coalition forces, a military spokesman said.

“An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACS) ... was fired at noon today at a former regime training area,” 25 kilometres west of Kirkuk, said Lt-Col Bill MacDonald.

He said the weapon hit the target, a facility located on an island in the Little Zab river.

“It was a pretty substantial training facility, there was former regime leadership in there, probably mid-level people, some involved in financing” anti-coalition attacks, he said.

He said it was not immediately clear whether there were casualties as damage assessment was still being carried out.

The missile, which contains a single 227-kilogram warhead and is guided by global positioning system, was fired from Taji, just outside Baghdad, 220 kilometres away, he said.

“It is the first time since the end of major combat that munition of this type has been utilized,” said Lt-Col MacDonald.

Washington declared an end to major hostilities on May 1.

Lt-Col MacDonald said the firing of the missile marked the launch of “Operation Ivy Cyclone II” in north-central Iraq by the Tikrit-based Task Force Ironhorse, predominantly comprised members of the US army’s 4th Infantry Division.

The operation involves using combined forces — including jet fighters, helicopter gunships, tanks and infantry — to target “paramilitary groups, former regime loyalists, foreign terrorists and other subversive elements,” said MacDonald.

“We are getting more aggressive,” he said.

“We also want to demonstrate we have the capability to launch operations simultaneously over a large area.”

He also said Task Force Ironhorse troops, which patrol three Iraqi provinces, have killed four anti-coalition fighters and captured another 42 since Saturday morning.

FIVE BLASTS: Four loud explosions were heard in Baghdad, bringing to five the number of blasts late on Sunday in Baghdad, newsmen in the Iraqi capital reported.