Iraq, US forces fight militants
24/01/2007 14:45  - (SA)  

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Baghdad - Mortar blasts thundered across central Baghdad on Wednesday as Iraqi and US forces fought insurgents in a Sunni bastion, after US President George W Bush pleaded for public support for his new security plan.

Iraqi and US troops backed by Apache helicopter gunships kicked off "Operation Tomahawk Strike 11" on Haifa Street, Iraq's defence ministry said.

The Sunni Arab bastion was the site of three previous battles this month including one on January 9 that involved 1 000 US and Iraqi troops and in which Iraqi defence sources said 50 insurgents were killed.

On Wednesday, a steady barrage of machine-gun and mortar fire echoed for around three hours, followed by a lull and then sporadic fire by both light and heavy weapons.

The area was rocked by a massive blast around 12:35.

A US military statement said the operation included "targeted raids to disrupt illegal militia activity and help restore Iraq security force control in the area".

The offensive combined Iraqi army and police forces with elements of the US 1st Cavalry Division and a Stryker combat brigade.

It did not solely target Sunni insurgents, "but rather aimed at rapidly isolating all active insurgents and gaining control of this key central Baghdad location", the statement said.

Iraqi security officials said the US aircraft were reported to have provided cover fire for the joint force.

Six "terrorists" and three other suspects were arrested and large caches of weapons seized inside Al-Karkh Middle School, which is located on Haifa Street, a defense ministry source said.

Bush plea

The battle broke out just hours after Bush pleaded with a war-weary American public to give his disputed Iraq strategy a chance, warning that defeat would see the entire Middle East caught up in an "epic battle".

"For America, this is a nightmare scenario. For the enemy, this is the objective," he said in his state of the union speech.

Two weeks after unveiling a new strategy centreed on sending 21 500 more soldiers into battle, the president gave no ground to his critics and urged lawmakers and the US public: "Give it a chance to work."

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