The Chicago Tribune reports that more than 1,000 U.S. troops supported by warplanes and helicopter gunships have launched attacks in and around the city of Obeidi near the Euphrates River close to Iraq’s border with Syria.

The report by a journalist embedded with U.S. forces says the offensive is targeting "a persistent insurgency."

It says American intelligence indicates the area has become "a haven for foreign fighters flowing in from Syria."

The military isn't saying when the offensive started but it does say that about 75 militants were killed in the first 24 hours of the operation.

There's no word yet on whether any Americans have been killed or wounded.

The Tribune also quotes some Marines as saying residents of one riverside town turned all their lights out at night, evidently to warn nearby towns of the American offensive.

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