Iraqi army kills up to 200 in rebel town

The Iraqi military forcers appear to be improving by the day.

TAL AFAR, Iraq (Reuters) - The Iraqi army has killed up to 200 insurgents in the northern town of Tal Afar, commanders said on Monday.

The major assault is causing dismay among some of the country's Sunni Arab minority and comes just a month ahead of a vote on a constitution which is already dividing the country.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari defied a $100,000 bounty placed on his head by a militant Islamic group to visit the scene of the insurgency, while a senior officer in Tal Afar said he expected the fighting to be over by Thursday.

The Iraqi army, backed by U.S. troops, launched an assault early on Saturday against an estimated 350-500 insurgents in the town near the Syrian border.Iraq's Third Army Brigade launched a fresh offensive on Monday, killing 40 insurgents and arresting 21 "terrorist emirs," or senior insurgent leaders, the brigade's media officer said, in an operation ending at around 5.15 p.m. (1415 BST).

"We also seized a cache of heavy weaponry, including mortars, artillery, explosives, TNT, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades," he told Reuters