US forces sweep through Iraqi towns

US forces kicked off a massive sweep with more than 20 lightning raids in towns throughout Iraq, netting at least 60 suspects in a show of air and infantry power designed to crush resistance and stem a wave of deadly attacks on US troops.

Yesterday’s raids by the 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse troops came as the US 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 2am local time across an area of central Iraq stretching from the Iranian border to the areas north of Baghdad, and is expected to last for several days, according to military officials in Camp Boom, near Baqouba, 35 miles north east 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 US casualties, the military said, nor was there any indication that the operation had netted any of Iraq’s most wanted fugitives.

“We go in with such overwhelming combat power that they won’t even think about shooting us,” Lieutenant Colonel Mark Young said before the start of the operation.

The military said the raids targeted loyalists from Saddam’s former Baath Party, as well as “terrorists suspected of perpetrating attacks against US forces and former Iraqi military leaders”.

Troops arrested a man in Khalis, 45 miles north of Baghdad, suspected of recruiting others to launch attacks on US soldiers.

In Dojima, a town where Sunni Muslim residents recently polished the still-standing portrait of Saddam Hussein, 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.

The military also announced the arrest on Saturday of 15 suspects in Mosul, in northern Iraq, confiscating Baath party documents and Republican Guard uniforms, as well as weapons.

Insurgents have stepped up their attacks against US troops in recent days, carrying out ambushes against military convoys, shooting soldiers, and lobbing grenades.

Officials in Washington have said repeatedly that no centralised Iraqi resistance to occupying forces remains. But commanders on the ground painted a different picture.

Lt Col Young called the resistance in the areas north east of Baghdad “an organised effort.”

Yesterday, Paul Bremer, the top US official in Iraq, stressed the need to capture Saddam.

“I think it is important that we either catch him or kill him,” Mr Bremer told the BBC.

“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.”

He said progress was being made in restoring basic services to the country such as health care, water and power supplies.

Speaking from Iraq, he said Baghdad now had 18 to 20 hours of electricity a day and that law and order would soon be restored.

“Am I satisfied? No,” said Mr Bremer, “We will do our best and we will succeed. I do not know when that will be.”

Ordinary Iraqis are growing more and more frustrated with the lack of water and electricity, especially with temperatures soaring as high as 47C (117F).

They are also clamouring for improved security in the capital, where nightly blackouts have helped turn the streets over to roaming bandits.

The shaky relationship between occupier and occupied came to the fore in a confrontation yesterday morning in Fallujah, a restive town west of Baghdad that’s seen a number of attacks on US troops since the Americans shot and killed 20 protesters during demonstration in April.

A shouting match broke out when an Iraqi civilian, Jamal Shalal Habib al-Mahemdi, accused a US soldier of stealing a large amount of cash from his car.

The soldier tried to wave the man on, but, at the behest of bystanders, his superior officer, Sergeant James Phillips, searched his pockets and found the money.

Sgt Phillips then returned the bills to al-Mahemdi, who waved them above his head and cursed the soldier.

It was not clear if the soldier, whose name was not immediately available, would be disciplined.

Major Sean Gibson, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, said he had not heard of the incident but was sure it would be investigated.

The incident was witnessed by an Associated Press photographer.

Meanwhile, two US troops were injured and an Iraqi civilian was killed when an explosive device went off alongside a US military convoy on a road leading to Baghdad International Airport, the military said.

In other violence, insurgents yesterday ambushed a US patrol west of Baghdad using rocket propelled grenades.

One of the grenades struck a Bradley fighting vehicle patrolling near Khaldiyah, some 35 miles west of Baghdad, but didn’t cause any significant damage or injuries.

US troops returned fire with 25 mm cannon, but apparently failed to inflict any casualties on the attackers, who ran away.

At least 63 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq since major combat was declared over on May 1.