Airstrikes Kill Insurgents, U.S. Says

First of Two Assaults Hits Area Where Helicopters Were Downed

BAGHDAD, March 3 -- Several al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents who had targeted U.S. helicopters were killed in an airstrike north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Saturday. A second strike killed members of another al-Qaeda cell that has orchestrated car bombings.

Meanwhile, three U.S. soldiers on patrol in central Baghdad were killed by a roadside bomb, the military said.

The first air assault, near Taji, north of Baghdad, destroyed trucks mounted with antiaircraft guns in an area where several American helicopters have been shot down in recent weeks.

"Coalition forces believe key terrorists were killed during the airstrike," the military said in a statement. "Results are still being assessed at this time."

Sunni insurgents say they have downed at least six U.S. helicopters since Jan. 20. After several helicopters crashed in the first weeks of this year, U.S. officials ordered a reevaluation of how troops are moved around in an increasingly hostile war zone. Helicopters are being used more frequently in Iraq because sophisticated roadside bombs have made ground travel more dangerous.

The second airstrike destroyed a car bomb factory in southern Baghdad, killing seven people inside, the U.S. military said, adding that "this cell is responsible for a large and devastating number" of attacks in the capital.

In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a car bomb apparently targeting an Iraqi police checkpoint exploded about noon near Anbar University. At least 12 people were killed, including two police officers, and 15 were injured, police said.

In Yusufiyah, about 15 miles south of Baghdad, gunmen killed six male members of a Sunni family after raiding their home. The attack apparently was in response to the family's efforts to reconcile with local Shiites, news services reported.

A senior adviser to Iraq's defense minister was kidnapped in western Baghdad, according to Iraqi television reports.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb targeting the top police commander in Salahuddin province, Brig. Hamad al-Jubury, killed two of his bodyguards, police said.

Special correspondent Muhanned Saif Aldin in Tikrit and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.