Insurgents claiming to be from al-Qaeda attacked US bases and government offices in Ramadi in western Iraq today.
Scores of heavily-armed insurgents fired mortars and rockets at buildings and then occupied several main streets setting up checkpoints.
Residents said leaflets distributed by the men declared that al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group run by the Jordanian militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was now in control of the city.
However, the group later dispersed.
The attack came as 2,000 US Marines and 500 Iraqi soldiers launched an offensive against insurgents in the town of Hit, not far from Ramadi.
