BAGHDAD, Aug 28: US and Iraqi troops killed 33 insurgents in an airborne assault and airstrikes north of Baghdad aimed at reopening a major irrigation canal that had been seized by gunmen, the US military said on Tuesday.

“The pre-dawn assault, involving several hundred Iraqi and Coalition forces defeated numerous small-arms attacks throughout the day, resulting in a combined 13 insurgents killed,” the US military said in a statement.

“Attack helicopters and close air support ... killed 20 more,” it said.

Residents in Khalis, a religiously mixed town 80km north of Baghdad, said insurgents had shovelled earth into the irrigation canal some days ago, cutting off water to farmland.

The canal is in the Kobat area, which has strong presence of Al Qaeda fighters, they said.

The US military said it had successfully reopened the spillway and seized weapons and explosives.

Protesting Khalis residents last week closed the main road between Baghdad and Kirkuk to demand the local authorities take stronger steps to restore security to the area, which has witnessed bitter sectarian violence.

Residents said they had also been without drinking water for nearly a month. An official in the local electricity office said a power plant that serviced the town’s water treatment plant needed to be repaired.—Reuters