U.S. troops launch new offensive in western Iraq

About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the troubled Anbar province Wednesday, killing at least three insurgents after launching the second major operation in this vast western region in less than a month, an official said.
The offensives are aimed at uprooting insurgents who have killed more than 620 people since a new Iraqi government was announced on April 28.