Iraqi forces were in full control Wednesday of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a day after 12 US marines were killed and two dozen wounded in fighting with anti-coaliton insurgents, a marine statement said."As of 8:00 pm (1600 GMT) yesterday, the Iraqi Police Services and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps were providing security for the residents of Ar Ramadi," the statement said.
Coalition forces are monitoring the situation and ready to provide support in the event that the insurgents resume hostilities, it added.
The statement said several calls from local residents helped coalition forces identify and hunt down the insurgents.
The heavy US casualties came as US Marines pressed on with "Operation Vigilant Resolve," which is aimed at flushing out insurgents who killed four US contractors here last week.
The operation involves two marine battalions, or more than 2,000 troops, based near this Sunni Muslim stronghold that has been a bastion of anti-US insurgency since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime a year ago.
"Eleven Marines died while engaged with the anti-Iraqi Forces for more than seven hours. One died from wounds suffered during the firefight," the statement said.
The names of the dead were being withheld pending notification of families.
In Washington Tuesday, a Defense Department official who requested anonymity said: "We had about 12 dead and a couple dozen wounded at the governor's palace in Ar Ramadi," some 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the Iraqi capital.
The official said the attack was carried out by between 60 and 70 Iraqi insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. "The indications are they were well-trained," the official said.
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