Iraq Watch: September 6, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fighting continued to rage in the northern city of Tal Afar on Tuesday causing thousands of residents to seek refuge in other parts of the country.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the city located 260 miles northwest of Baghdad. One U.S. soldier was killed in Tal Afar yesterday when his vehicle hit an IED the military reported today.

The U.S. military also announced the deaths of three more soldiers on Tuesday. Two Task Force Baghdad soldiers were killed and two others injured when thir vehicle struck an IED at around 10:00 a.m. this morning. The other soldier, also killed by an IED, died yesterday during combat operations near Ramadi.

Fighting also persisted in towns across western Iraq near the Syrian border. The U.S. military announced that it had destroyed two bridges said to be used by militants to transport fighters and munitions near Karabilah, 185 miles west of the capital.

Fighting has stepped up recently in Euphrates River valley towns near the Iraq-Syria border with reports that militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have taken control of some.

In the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, U.S. forces officially handed over security to the Iraqi army in the first of a planned series of security transfers. The approximately 400 U.S. troops previously stationed at Forward Operating Base Hotel - renammed Base Karrar by the Iraqis - will be moved to the outskirts of the city.

In other violence on Tuesday, an Iraqi army officer was killed by insurgents in Dhuluiya, 25 miles north of the capital.