Massive security operation to circle Baghdad
The government announced today that a security cordon of 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will ring Baghdad starting next week to try to halt a spree of insurgent violence that has killed more than 620 people this month.
The announcement comes after at least 15 Iraqis died in violence nationwide, including a child, during clashes between US forces and insurgents in the northern city of Tal Afar. Among those killed were a university professor, killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad, and three policemen who died in a car bombing in the capital.
