Two Iraqis killed in Ramadi firefight, clashes in Hit

RAMADI, Iraq, Oct 11 (AFP) - Two Iraqis were killed and three wounded in a firefight between insurgents and US marines in the rebel hotbed of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Monday, according to medics, with clashes spreading later to the town of Hit further west.
"We have two dead and three wounded," said Doctor Hamdi Rawi from the general hospital in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
The US military had no immediate information on the incident.
Marines and rebels clash daily in the city, where the Iraqi government is seeking to impose law and order ahead of elections scheduled for January.
US troops also clashed with rebels in the town of Hit, west of Ramadi, in the strife-torn al-Anbar province, the bastion of the Sunni Muslim insurgency in Iraq, according to a US military statement.
It said marines and Iraqi national guard members were first fired upon by small arms fire from the town's Sharqi mosque at about 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) with clashes then escalating to a fierce three-hour fight in which insurgents used mortars and heavy machine guns, forcing marines to call in aircraft support.
"Marine aviation was used to deliver precision-guided munitions to target the threat," said the statement.
A marine spokesman said later that the mosque was not destroyed but that the degree of damage was unknown.
Medics in town said three Iraqis were wounded in the fight.