Posted on 06/04/2005 1:08:49 PM PDT by Wiz
LATIFIYAH, Iraq - Hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. troops searched fields and farms Saturday in an area known as the Triangle of Death, hunting throughout a searingly hot late spring day for hideouts used by predominantly Sunni Arab militants to mount suicide attacks against nearby Baghdad.
They rounded up at least 108 Iraqis suspected of involvement in the brutal campaign by insurgents to topple the Shiite-led government.
An Iraqi believed to be a top terror leader in northern Iraq also was captured by U.S. and Iraqi forces in Mosul, and Iraqi Lt. Col. Abu Fahad Alkhasali said 19 suspected insurgents — including a Jordanian and a Syrian — were arrested in raids in Baghdad's western Abu Ghraib district.
Saddam Hussein's judge, meanwhile, said the former dictator's morale has plummeted due to the gravity of the war crimes charges he faces.
Saturday's offensive in Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, was part of Operation Lightning, a massive crackdown that started a week ago and was aimed at rooting the insurgency out of Baghdad and sapping the strength from militants nationwide.
The interior minister has said at least 700 suspected insurgents have been rounded up in the sweep, which has also killed at least 28 militants.
U.S. Lt. Col. Michael Infanti said at least 221 people had been detained since last Wednesday by forces carrying out a sweep of Baghdad's southern districts. It was unclear if that number was in addition to Jabr's 700.
The sweep though the semi-rural Latifiyah area on Saturday showed that although Iraqi forces were leading the operation, the U.S. military was still the driving force.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
ping
Hopefully these cordon and search operations shall continue on a long term basis, and as new battallion strenght Iraq forces become available, they will as planned, branch out to key cities throughout provinces with known hot spots.
Funny how Lafitiya keeps coming up. That area below and southwest of Baghdad are known for a lot of Baathist support,
and have for over two years regularily been patroled. New goons just keep showing up.
News on this operation has been relatively scarce. It's rather ironic, since it was given publicity before it got started.
Thanks
This is an excellent training opportunity for the Iraqi forces. It's being used to give the Iraqi army experience in real life manuvers.
I wish I could be there on the hunt! Thanks for posting this!
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