The joint US-Iraqi operation has reduced the level of violence but failed to stem it altogether. On Saturday, a spokesman said Iraqi forces clashed with suspected al-Qaeda-linked insurgents during a four-day operation in a Sunni enclave in central Baghdad.
Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Qassim al-Moussawi said 48 gunmen were killed in the fighting, in which Iraqi army soldiers were supported by local Sunni tribesmen and other civilians who have turned against al-Qaeda in the volatile Fadhil neighborhood.
Saturday, however, saw Iraq's civilian death toll fall to its lowest level in recent memory, with only four people killed or found dead nationwide, reports said.
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