Sweeping Through Ramadi

AP: Insurgents Attack U.S. Bases in Iraq---

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents attacked several U.S. bases and government offices with mortars Thursday before dispersing in the capital of western Iraq's Anbar province, residents and police said. Meanwhile, Iraq's interior minister fired his top official for human rights in connection with a torture investigation.

The attacks in Ramadi occurred as local tribal leaders and U.S. military officials were to hold their second meeting in a week at the governor's office in the city center. The insurgents apparently tried to shell the building, but reporters inside said there was no damage or injuries.

Police Lt. Mohammed al-Obaidi said at least four mortar rounds fell near the U.S. base on the eastern edge of the city, but that there were no reports of casualties.
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Ramadi is the provincial capital of Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold, where clashes between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi troops have left hundreds of people dead in the past two years.

U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a joint operation near Ramadi on Wednesday, sweeping through an area used to rig car bombs.

About 500 Iraqi troops joined 2,000 U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors in a move to clear insurgents from an area on the eastern side of the Euphrates River near Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, the U.S. command said.