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Posted on 03/16/2006 8:21:25 AM PST by gandalftb

Baghdad, 16 March (AKI) - The US military has launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. A military statement said the operation involved more than 50 aircraft and 200 tactical vehicles and some 1,500 US and Iraqi forces. The operation targeted suspected insurgents operating near the town of Samarra, some 100 kilometres north of Baghdad. The focus of the raid is believed to be three villages northeast of Samarra where there are believed to be various Arab fighters as well as native Iraqi insurgents.

"Iraqi army and police forces, backed by U.S. helicopters launched a pre-dawn offensive against insurgents in the Jallam area from several directions," a source from Salahudin province told thje Xinhua news agency.

The attack targeted insurgents, including the al-Qaeda fighters in the open area between Samarra town to the south and the al-Dowr town to the north, and between Tigris River to the west and the Himrin mountains to the east, the source said.

The latest: raids have discovered a bomb-making factory and a large supply of Iraqi army and police uniforms.
This location was likely the staging area for the failed "mini-tet" that was planned for the green zone. This is also Zarqawi's sandbox and unofficial reports place his location as a prime objective.

Since the Mujahaddin Shura Council recently dumped Zarqawi as its emir he is in real trouble from Baathist insurgents.

1 posted on 03/16/2006 8:21:27 AM PST by gandalftb