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TAL AFAR, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. and Iraqi troops swept into the insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar early Saturday, conducting house-to-house searches and battering down walls with armored vehicles.

In the capital, Baghdad International Airport - the country's only reliable and relatively safe link to the outside world - reopened a day after a British security company suspended operations there in a payment dispute with the government.

The Tal Afar offensive, expected for weeks, began with coalition forces facing several hundred lightly armed insurgents in the largely deserted city, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad and about 60 miles east of the Syrian border.

Gunfire could be heard from the Sarai district, the oldest part of the city and believed to be insurgent headquarters.

"At 2 a.m. today, acting on my orders, Iraqi forces commenced an operation to remove all remaining terrorist elements from the city of Tal Afar. These forces are operating with support from the Multinational Force," Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in a statement.

U.S. forces cleared the city of militants last year but quickly withdrew, leaving behind a force of 500 that was unable to stop fighters from returning.

To soften resistance, the U.S. military had carried out repeated air and artillery strikes against Tal Afar ahead of the latest assault. Most of the population of 200,000 reportedly fled to the surrounding countryside.

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