BAGHDAD, Iraq – More than 3,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation Tuesday against insurgent strongholds just south of Baghdad, their second mission in five days to wrest control from militants.
The operation in Babil province – an area notorious for kidnappings and ambushes and home to the fabled ancient city of Babylon – follows last week’s U.S.-Iraqi drive to oust insurgent forces from Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Iraqi forces went into action after a string of bombings set off clashes Tuesday between U.S. troops and gunmen west of Baghdad and in the northern city of Mosul, and as the discovery of five beheaded bodies over two days indicated the pace of such grisly killings was also surging.
The Marines and Iraqis punched their way across the Euphrates river, rounded up 160 suspects, seized a suspected training camp and took control of a major bridge, the U.S. command said. The bridge, spanning the Euphrates, is believed to be a favored corridor linking insurgent areas around Baghdad, Fallujah and towns farther south.
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s government has been negotiating with followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt weeks of fighting with U.S. troops in the Baghdad district of Sadr City. In a speech, Allawi said the two sides had reached the basis of a deal and talks were continuing.
However, clashes between al-Sadr’s militia and American troops continued despite the talks.
U.S. troops also battled gunmen in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, and in Mosul after a series of bombings. At least five American soldiers were wounded.
U.S. military deaths
The latest identifications reported by the U.S. military of personnel killed in Iraq:
Army Sgt. Christopher S. Potts, 38, Tiverton, R.I.; killed by small arms fire Sunday in Taji; assigned to the Army National Guards 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Regiment, Providence, R.I.
U.S. military deaths
The latest identifications reported by the U.S. military of personnel killed in Iraq:
Army Sgt. Christopher S. Potts, 38, Tiverton, R.I.; killed by small arms fire Sunday in Taji; assigned to the Army National Guards 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Regiment, Providence, R.I.
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