US warplanes launched air strikes on two small bridges used by insurgents on Euphrates River in western Iraq on Tuesday, the US military said.

The strike took place shortly after midnight near the Iraqi town of Karabilah on the Iraqi-Syrian border, a military statement said.

"The purpose of the strike was to prevent terrorists of al Qaida in Iraq from using the structures for vehicular traffic to conduct attacks," the statement said.

"The munitions used in the strike were designed to crater the bridges, rendering them inoperable but not destroying them," it added.

On the ground, the US forces captured three foreign fighters and killed two others during a search operation on an insurgent safe house in Karabilah town, some 300 km west of Baghdad, the statement said.

The US forces clashed with the foreign fighters at the safe house after they came under fire, it said.

"Multinational forces personnel returned fire and assaulted the building, suffering one friendly casualty when a Multinational Force soldier was wounded," the statement said.

The US troops called on aircraft support to destroy the safe house which was used as "operational headquarters", the statement added.

The US Marines have launched several offensives against insurgents in Karabilah and several small towns on the Syrian border, known by the US military as a smuggling route for foreign fighters.

Source: Xinhua