Iraqi police lead raid on Saddam fighters

Iraqi security forces, backed by US military police, carried out their largest joint raid today in a bid to break the resistance movement in Saddam Hussein’s turbulent home town.

The overnight raid in Tikrit involved more than 200 American-trained Iraqi police and dozens of soldiers from the US Army’s 720th Military Police Battalion. The Iraqis were trained by the MPs, one of the only US military units that patrols the city on a daily basis.

“The people we went after are the trigger-pullers attacking the coalition,” said Lt Col David Poirier, who commands the 720th, based in Fort Hood, Texas. “We want to send the message that if you pull the trigger on the coalition, we will get you.”

Although only four people were detained in simultaneous raids against 15 houses in downtown Tikrit, Poirier – standing on one of Tikrit’s dark and dusty streets – said the operation was a success because Iraqi police had led the raids.

“We think we are turning the corner with the police. This was completely led by the Iraqis.” Poirier said. “We hope this operation has tightened the noose on the bad guys.”

They were seeking 12 men believed to be directly responsible for firing rocket propelled grenades at US convoys along a stretch of road in central Tikrit known as “RPG alley”. They were also thought to be the men who have detonated scores of homemade bombs along that road and the main highway running through Tikrit that connects Baghdad with the northern part of the country.

“These are the people responsible for that. This operation was designed to break the back of the Fedayeen,” Poirier said. “They are off-balance, on the run, they know we are after them and that the Iraqi police are after them.”

US troops have carried out dozens of raids, mostly at night, over the past two weeks, arresting men who have funded the attackers. They have also uncovered weapons caches, including two of the biggest found so far last Saturday. They included nearly three-dozen heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles, mortars and a ton of explosives used to make bombs.

The raids intensified after Iraqi resistance fighters shot dead three Americans in an ambush two weeks ago just outside Tikrit. During a co-ordinated series of attacks and ambushes against US forces last week, nine Iraqi fighters were also killed.