US and Iraqi troops pressed their sweep through a 100-square-mile swath of central Iraq yesterday in a bid to break up a centre of insurgent resistance, the US military said. No resistance or casualties were reported.

Heliborne US and Iraqi troops pressed their sweep through a 100-square-mile section of central Iraq today in a bid to break up a centre of insurgent resistance, the US military said. No casualties were reported on either side.

THE US military yesterday launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to root out insurgents near a town where recent violence raised fears of civil war.