Three US troops died Saturday in clashes in the western province of Anbar, the U.S. military said. A statement said the three were assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died due to "enemy action."
Meanwhile, Iraqi and American authorities freed 368 prisoners on Saturday, the Iraqi Justice Ministry said. According to him, 495 inmates were released on July 1, leaving about 11,550 in American custody.
On Friday, attacks on mosques after prayers have killed 11 people and 40 died or injured in a Baghdad raid on Shi'ite fighters that the US military said netted a top operative wanted for kidnap and murder. In a separate raid, Iraqi and US forces captured another commander of the Mehdi Army Shi'ite militia south of Baghdad.
The sectarian attacks, three on Sunni mosques and a car bomb that killed at least six after Shi'ite prayers, dealt new blows to the Iraqi government's attempts to end bloodshed between Shi'ites and Sunnis.
