BAGHDAD, May 25: Around 1,000 US and Iraqi troops swept through the western town of Haditha on Wednesday, searching homes and seizing suspects in an anti-guerilla raid that comes after a surge in militant attacks.

The US military said Marines, sailors and Iraqi soldiers were involved in the operation, dubbed New Market, which saw troops descend on the Euphrates river town northwest of Baghdad before dawn, backed by US helicopters.

The operation is the second major offensive in the area this month as US forces try to crush the resistance in western Iraq, where militants such as Jordanian Abu Musab al Zarqawi are believed to be hiding.

In a posting on a website, Al Qaeda in Iraq, the group led by Zarqawi, said its fighters had clashed with US troops in Haditha. It said its militants ‘fought glorious battles with crusaders and their agents’, referring to US and Iraqi forces.

The US military confirmed the clashes and said it had killed 10 guerillas in separate battles and discovered a small weapons cache. Two Marines were wounded.

“Local citizens identified one of the attackers killed as an imam (prayer leader),” the military said in a statement. “The imam was firing on Marines and Iraqi security forces with an AK-47 assault rifle.”

Haditha, a town of about 100,000 people 200kms northwest of Baghdad in the Euphrates valley, is situated near the border with Syria. It has long been suspected by the Americans of being a militant haven.

DESERTED STREETS: Haditha residents said US troops began their operation around 5am, moving door-to-door through the largely deserted streets as helicopters hovered overhead.