U.S. forces detained at least 180 people in raids to stamp out resistance to their occupation in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Monday, as local residents reported a huge weekend blast at an arms depot killed at least 30 Iraqi looters. Scores of people were hurt in the explosion at a munitions store in a desert area 160 miles northeast of Baghdad on Saturday, residents said, adding that U.S. forces arrested several looters afterwards and handed them to Iraqi police. They are also battling threats to their own troops, who have come under attack almost daily in recent weeks. U.S. officers blame Saddam loyalists, but Iraqis say some attackers are not linked to the ousted leader and simply oppose occupation, believing the invading troops have not respected them or provided basic services and security. Assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade on Sunday night at an army patrol in the town of Falluja, about 50 km west of Baghdad, wounding a journalist attached to a military unit, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. Three people were killed soon afterwards when their pickup truck drove into a military vehicle helping to evacuate the reporter from the area, the statement said. It did not identify the journalist, now in a stable condition, or the dead. **SIDEWINDER AND SCORPION*** The U.S. military, which has about 156,000 soldiers in Iraq, has launched several operations to stamp out Iraqi resistance. The latest, Operation Desert Sidewinder, began on Sunday with infantry soldiers backed by aircraft and armored vehicles. The arms haul appeared meager in a country where most homes have at least one weapon. The area was quiet on Monday. Troops from the First Armored Division detained 148 people in Baghdad as part of Operation Desert Scorpion, another mission aimed at stopping attacks. Amnesty International expressed concern at the treatment of detainees in Iraq and called for an end to a ban on them receiving visitors and consulting lawyers. **PHOTO CAPTION*** US Troops in Baghdad, Iraq