Large numbers of U.S. forces supported by helicopters gathered outside this Euphrates River village Saturday as a region-wide operation to wipe out supporters of Iraq's most wanted militant continued into its seventh day. An Associated Press reporter saw a large convoy of mainly U.S. Marines, backed by tanks, redeploy several kilometers (miles) from Rommana to Obeidi, on the river's northern bank, in a massive troop buildup that forced scared residents indoors. No U.S. military comment was immediately available on the Obeidi operation, but it appeared to signal a continuation of the high-profile Operation Matador, launched last Saturday in several villages close to the Syrian border known as major routes for foreign fighters entering Iraq to battle coalition forces. Residents said U.S. troops blocked the main road linking Obeidi with safer areas to the east outside the field of operations. The campaign, the largest since insurgents were forced from Fallujah six months ago, has killed more than 100 suspected foreign fighters allied with Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the military has said. Scores have also been captured.
