US forces mount massive show of force in Iraq

Mortar and tank fire lit up the night sky over Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit as US forces mounted a massive show of force to pin down resistance fighters.

Residents of a middle class Baghdad area expressed outrage after troops mounted their biggest-ever hunt for weapons and explosives but found little.

The US military moves in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq came as the Army tried to determine yesterday why two of its Black Hawk helicopters crashed in the northern city of Mosul, killing 17 soldiers in the worst single loss of American life since the war began.

In its offensive, the military fired a satellite-guided missile with a 500lb warhead at a suspected guerrilla training base, and four insurgents were killed in a separate clash. Both actions are part of an effort to take the fight to the enemy, rather than responding to ambushes and attacks.

“Any of those groups that are working against the best interest of the Iraqis are going to be targeted," said Lieutenant Colonel. William MacDonald, spokesman of the 4th Infantry Division.

Strong explosions thundered through central Baghdad after sunset yesterday, apparently part of “Operation Iron Hammer” the new “get tough” strategy.

A large number of US troops, backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters, moved into the Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of Azamiyah, sealing off a 20-block area and searching vehicles in a show of force.

In the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, troops announced they had arrested a leader of the Fedayeen guerrillas responsible for bomb attacks and ambushes on US forces. The suspect, Kazim Mohammed Faris, was a “high value target”, a military statement said.

US forces reacted to the increasing attacks in which dozens of Americans and their allies have died by blasting targets in central and northern Iraq.

Buildings, factories and other facilities believed used as staging areas for guerrilla attacks were bombed from the air and blasted by artillery barrages. Troops carried out dozens of raids aimed at apprehending suspects and seizing weapons and bomb-making materials.

One such “cordon-and-search” raid in Baghdad’s middle-class Azamiyah district netted 21 suspects along with 30 Kalashnikov AK-47 automatic rifles, about a dozen shotguns and 10 handguns. Most suspects had violated a one weapon per house rule.

Some 2,000 troops of the 1st Armoured Division – backed by tanks, armoured vehicles and low-flying helicopters took part in the raid, sealing off a 20 block area and searching every single building inside it.

Another such raid was mounted in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, where hundreds of soldiers rolled into the town centre in Bradley armoured vehicles.

The show of force was mounted “just to display their number and might,” said Lt Col Steven Russell.

In a separate incident, an Iraqi informer led US troops to a house near the Husaybah border crossing with Syria where they found 500 bangalore torpedoes, grenades and explosive devices, the military said.

Meanwhile, a tape purportedly made by Saddam Hussein urged the rebels to escalate attacks against the occupation and “agents brought by foreign armies” - an apparent reference to Iraqis supporting the coalition.

The speaker on the tape, aired on Al-Arabiya television, said the only way to end the chaos in Iraq was for Saddam and his now-outlawed Baath Party to return to power.

The CIA said it would review the tape for its authenticity. President George Bush dismissed the recording.

“The evil ones now find themselves in crisis and this is God’s will for them,” the tape said.

The speaker also lashed out at Iraqis who cooperate with the US military, calling them “stray dogs that walk alongside the caravan”.