US troops said they killed 18 insurgents in clashes in the volatile western Iraqi city of Ramadi.
The clashes, which began yesterday, continued this morning and ended only when US forces called in air strikes
Ramadi, 110 kilometres west of Baghdad, is the capital of Anbar province, heartland of the Sunni insurgency and the most dangerous place in Iraq for US troops.
The US military said its forces were attacked in Ramadi yesterday evening by small arms fire. When US machine gun and tank fire failed to quell the attack, troops called in an air strike.
US forces were again attacked today by militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades in several buildings.
