Joint Force Sweeps Stronghold

BAGHDAD —  U.S. and Iraqi forces swept through most of an insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border on Tuesday, encountering pockets of fierce resistance, destroying five unexploded car bombs and killing at least 30 guerrilla fighters, the American command reported.

Three U.S. Marines died during the last two days of the operation to clear the town of Ubaydi, a military statement said. More than 80 insurgents have been killed, mostly in airstrikes, in the same period, it said.

Separately, three U.S. soldiers were killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb near Baghdad, the American command said.

The U.S.-Iraqi attack on Ubaydi was the latest stage of an offensive to clear Al Qaeda-linked insurgents from towns and cities in the Euphrates River valley near the border with Syria and seal off an infiltration route for foreign fighters.

“Iraqi and coalition forces continue to clear the city house-by-house, occasionally encountering buildings that are rigged with explosives,” the U.S. statement said. It said many weapons caches were seized, including several containing suicide vests and bomb-making materials.

This month, U.S. and Iraqi forces overran two other towns in the area -- Husaybah and Karabilah. The Americans and their Iraqi allies plan to establish a long-term presence to prevent insurgents from returning.

One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, died Tuesday of wounds incurred when a bomb exploded Monday. Another Marine with the same unit was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in Ubaydi, and a third Marine from the unit was killed by gunfire Monday, the military said.

The three soldiers who died Tuesday were with the Army’s Task Force Baghdad and were killed northwest of the capital, the military said.

That brought to at least 2,071 the number of U.S. service members who have died in the Iraq theater since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.