[darrels joy]

Al-Qaeda Fighters Killed in Raids in Western Iraq, U.S. Says
Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Several suspected al-Qaeda fighters were killed in western Iraq today when U.S.-led forces used precision guided bombs to destroy three terrorist hideouts in two cities near the Syrian border, the military said. At least 50 people died in the raids, Agence France-Presse reported.

Four bombs were dropped on a house ``occupied by terrorists'' outside the city of Husaybah in the first strike, the military said in a statement e-mailed from the capital, Baghdad. Then at 6:20 a.m. local time two bombs were dropped on a second house, killing a man identified as ``Abu Islam, a known terrorist'' and several others, the military said.

At about 8:30 a.m. another attack was conducted, this time on a house in the city of Karabilah, six kilometers south east of Husaybah, where some of Islam's followers are believed to have fled, the military said. Several terrorists were killed, according to the statement.

The military said it wasn't immediately able to provide a casualty toll, adding ``coalition forces take all precautions to minimize collateral damage and prevent the loss of civilian life.'' At least 56 people died, Agence France-Presse said, citing an Iraqi security official it didn't name. As many as 40 people, many of them civilians, died in the raids, al-Jazeera Television reported, citing unidentified hospital officials. Husaybah and Karabilah lie near the city of al-Qaim. The area near the Syrian border in the Euphrates valley has been identified by U.S. military commanders as part of a smuggling route for foreign Islamist fighters entering Iraq.