Triangle of death round-up nets 210 suspects

Multinational troops, including members of the Black Watch, have arrested 210 suspected militants in a week long crackdown against insurgents in an area south of Baghdad known as the ”triangle of death”, the US military command said today.

Iraqi government forces and US Marines rounded up 15 new suspects during operations yesterday, bringing the total to 210. A militant was killed when a mortar round he was planting near a busy road in the area exploded prematurely, said the US military.

The operation, code named Plymouth Rock, was launched in part as a follow-up to last month’s assault on Fallujah, the main insurgent bastion 40 miles west of Baghdad.

US commanders want to cut off escape routes for Fallujah fighters and pacify the troubled region ahead of national elections in January.