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United States and Iraqi troops killed 33 insurgents in an airborne assault and airstrikes at Khalis, 80km north of Baghdad, aimed at reopening a major irrigation canal that had been seized by gunmen, the US military said yesterday.
Residents in Khalis, a religiously mixed town, said insurgents had shovelled earth into the irrigation canal some days ago, cutting off water to farmland. Residents last week called for a greater security presence.
