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November 23, 2004

Mass Offensive Launched South of Baghdad

Topics: Middle East News and Perspectives

AP News Reporting. Nov 23, 10:44 AM (ET)  By TINI TRAN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Some 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi commandos launched raids and arrested suspected insurgents Tuesday in a new offensive aimed at clearing a swath of insurgent hotbeds south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

In other violence, masked gunmen assassinated a Sunni cleric north of Baghdad - the second such killing in as many days - and insurgents hit a U.S. convoy with a roadside bomb near the central Iraq city of Samarra, prompting the Americans to open fire, killing an Iraqi, hospital officials said.

The new offensive was the third large-scale military assault this month aimed at suppressing Iraq's persistent insurgency ahead of crucial elections set for Jan. 30.

(Click image to enlarge - AP Photo/Hadi Mizban: U.S.tank burning on transport truck)

The region of dusty, small towns south of the capital has become known as the "triangle of death" for the frequent attacks by car bombs, rockets, and small arms on U.S. and Iraqi forces there and for frequent ambushes on travellers.  Read More...

Posted by Hyscience at November 23, 2004 11:49 AM

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