BAGHDAD, June 22 (UPI) -- A U.S.-Iraqi operation killed at least 68 al-Qaida fighters in the Diyala Province of Iraq during a four-day period, the U.S. military said Friday.
U.S. attack helicopters killed 17 al-Qaida gunmen Friday, the military said, CNN reported.
The al-Qaida deaths were part of the anti-insurgent Operation Arrowhead Ripper offensive in Diyala that began Tuesday.
The military said troops destroyed 21 bombs and nine booby-trapped structures, detained 20 militants and discovered seven caches of weapons.
Elsewhere in Iraq, the U.S. military said Friday a U.S. soldier was killed in combat in southwestern Baghdad Thursday.
Three police officers were killed by a suicide truck bomb Thursday night and two roadside bombs in Baghdad killed three civilians and a police officer, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Friday, CNN reported.
Also Friday, two insurgents were killed and 37 arrested in operations against al-Qaida in Iraq and Shiite militia groups in several areas, the U.S. military said.
