BAGHDAD – American troops went on the offensive from the gates of Baghdad to the Syrian border yesterday, pounding Sunni insurgent positions from the air and supporting Iraqi soldiers in raids on mosques suspected of harboring extremists.

Some of the sharpest exchanges took place in Hit, 90 miles northwest of Baghdad, where residents and hospital officials said American aircraft attacked two sites, killing two people and wounding five. The American command had no comment.

Seventy miles west of Baghdad, Iraqi troops backed by American soldiers raided seven mosques in Ramadi, arresting a locally prominent member of a clerical association and three other people. They also seized bomb-making materials and “insurgent propaganda” in the mosques, American officials said. Residents accused the Americans of breaking down doors and violating the sanctity of mosques.

Meanwhile, insurgents attacked an Iraqi National Guard outpost east of the Syrian border town of Qaim, American military officials said. The local hospital reported 15 to 20 people were killed.

In Fallujah, residents reported explosions and clashes on the eastern edge of the city. At least five people were killed and four wounded in the blasts, according to Fallujah General Hospital. The victims were reportedly traveling in a truck and two cars on a highway outside the city when they came under fire. The American command issued no statement.

An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there are concerns about a possible rise in insurgent violence around Ramadan, because of an upswing last year – when bombings and rocket attacks accelerated significantly in Baghdad and other areas at the beginning of the holy month.

Also, an American government official said yesterday that coalition per sonnel mounted two operations last month to rescue members of a group of three hostages held by Iraq, but they didn’t find them.

British civil engineer Kenneth Bigley and American engineers Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley were the targets of the rescue. They were kidnapped from their homes in Baghdad on September 16.

The first operation came before September 20, when Armstrong is believed to have been beheaded by his captors, the American official said, discussing sensitive operations only on the condition of anonymity. The second came after Armstrong’s death but before that of Hensley, which was reported September 21.

An American freelance photographer was released yesterday after he was kidnapped last Sunday in Baghdad, a New York photo agency said.

Paul Taggart, 24, sounded “remarkably relaxed, tremendously relieved,” said Stephen Claypole, chief executive officer of the New York-based World Picture News agency.

Mr. Claypole said Mr. Taggart told him that he had been treated well but that he had been moved frequently, including three times the first night of his captivity. Ali Smeisem, a senior aide to the terrorist Muqtada al-Sadr, who has a broad following in the Shiite slum in northwest Baghdad, said Mr. Taggart was kidnapped by an independent Shiite group that believed he was a spy. Mr. Smeisem said Mr. al-Sadr pressured the group to free the photographer.

Iraqi officials also said yesterday that Saddam Hussein underwent an operation to repair a hernia about 10 days ago but has made a full recovery. The ousted dictator was taken to the Ibn Sina hospital near Baghdad’s American-controlled Green Zone for the procedure, which was performed by Iraqi doctors, according to sources close to the Human Rights Ministry.