American forces backed by aircraft killed 25 suspected gunmen in operations targeting al Qaeda near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Thursday. North of the capital, in the city of Kirkuk, a carbomb targeting the convoy of a police colonel killed four people, including one policeman, police said, according to Reuters.
In a statement, the U.S. Army said the suspected al Qaeda members were killed during operations late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday west of Tarmiya. It said 21 suspects were captured. The statement conveyed U.S. forces called in aircraft to attack armed men seen acting with "hostile intent" in the area of the operation. One gunman was killed.
Ground forces then moved further into the area, where they came under fire. Troops again called in aircraft, killing 24 suspected gunmen. According to the statement, American soldiers found a weapons cache that included many anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-surface missiles, rifles, pistols, grenades, mortar rounds and artillery shells.
