Free Republic

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...