The US military launched a massive operation to crack down on opposition forces north of the capital Baghdad and captured nearly 400 suspected Saddam Hussein's loyalists in a bid to end daily attacks against American soldiers.
Code-named "Operation Peninsula Strike" and involving thousands of American troops, the operation began on Tuesday and was focused on the Tigris River town of Thuluya, some 70 kilometers north of Baghdad, the US Central Command said. Thuluya is located not far from the main road between Baghdad and Tikrit, the home town of the former Iraqi president.
"It's an ongoing operation, and we don't discuss the size or scope of such things until they are over," Central Command spokesman Lieutenant Ryan Fitzgerald said, according to AP. However, he added Operation "Peninsula Strike" was "one of the largest operations in a continuing effort to secure the peace in Iraq."
The two-phased operation consisted of a series of raids to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other "subversive elements" that US intelligence believed had found refuge in several communities perched on a peninsula along the Tigris River, northeast of the town of Balad, according to the command.
In the first phase of "Peninsula Strike," soldiers moved into attack and reconnaissance positions, while seeking help from local police, the command said.
During the second stage, air and ground assault teams and commandos in river patrol boats moved in to round up and arrest suspected “guerrillas”. The attack was supported from the air by combat helicopters, fighter jets and other warplanes, defense officials said, cited by AFP.
As of Wednesday, 397 suspects were in custody near the town of Balad, about 37 miles north of Baghdad, and a large number of arms and ammunition had been seized, the US military said. A curfew was then imposed from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. (Albawaba.com)
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