US Strikes at Iraqi Resistance, 60 Arrested

30/06/2003| IslamWeb

U.S. forces kicked off a massive sweep Sunday, raiding more than 20 towns across a wide swath of Iraq and netting at least 60 Iraqis in a show of air and infantry power designed to crush Iraqi resistance and stem a wave of deadly attacks on American troops. The raids by the 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse troops came as the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq said American forces must kill or capture Saddam Hussein so he can no longer be a rallying point for anti-coalition attacks. The latest operation, dubbed "Sidewinder," began at 2 a.m. local time across an area of central Iraq stretching from the Iranian border to the areas north of Baghdad. It's expected to last for several days, according to military officials in Camp Boom, near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The region has become "the nexus of paramilitary activity in central Iraq," the military said in a statement. There were no reports of U.S. casualties, the military said, nor was there any indication that the operation had netted any of Iraq's most wanted fugitives. The raids targeted loyalists from Saddam's former Baath Party, "terrorists suspected of perpetrating attacks against U.S. forces and former Iraqi military leaders," the military said. At least 63 American soldiers have died in Iraq since major combat was declared over May 1, close to one-third of them killed in attacks, raising the total U.S. death toll to more than 200 since the March 20 start of the war. Some 42 British forces have died. **Iraqis Polish Portrait of Saddam*** The American forces arrested a man in Khalis, 45 miles north of Baghdad, suspected of recruiting others to launch attacks on U.S. troops. In Dojima, a town where Sunni Muslim residents recently polished the still-standing portrait of Saddam, police raided the homes of alleged Saddam loyalists they suspected of hiding caches of arms, including rocket-propelled grenades - the weapon of choice in many recent ambushes. Insurgents have stepped up their attacks against U.S. troops in recent days, carrying out ambushes against military convoys, shooting soldiers, and lobbing grenades. **Catch or Kill Saddam*** The top U.S. official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, stressed the need to capture Saddam, although there's no evidence the former Iraqi leader himself is behind the violence. "I think it is important that we either catch him or kill him," Bremer told the British Broadcasting Corp. "There is no doubt that the fact that we have not been able to show his fate allows the remnants on the Baath regime to go around the bazaars and villages and say Saddam will come back so do not cooperate with the coalition." The shaky relationship between occupier and occupied came to the fore in a confrontation Sunday morning in Fallujah, a restive town west of Baghdad that's seen a number of attacks on U.S. troops since the Americans shot and killed 20 protesters during demonstration in April. A shouting match broke out when U.S. soldiers stole 600 US dollars from Iraqi civilian, Jamal Shalal Habib al-Mahemdi. It was not clear if the soldier, whose name was not immediately available, would be disciplined. Maj. Sean Gibson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said he had not heard of the incident but was sure it would be investigated. Meanwhile, two American troops were injured and an Iraqi civilian was killed when an explosive device went off alongside a U.S. military convoy on a road leading to Baghdad International Airport, the military said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Three Iraqi men sit in the back of a US military truck after they were arrested in the Karkh district of Baghdad. (AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)