FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces sealed off roads, searched houses and scoured the skies with helicopters in the restive towns around Baghdad Sunday in a new mission to hunt down diehard guerrillas still loyal to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
U.S. army spokesman Sergeant Brian Thomas told Reuters that Operation Desert Scorpion, a mission to root out members of Saddam's Baath party and Fedayeen militia blamed for a string of deadly attacks on U.S. troops, began Saturday night.
"We are trying to detain people who want to destabilize Iraq (news - web sites)," he said, adding that the mission would focus on Baghdad and the tense areas to the north and west of the city.
In the Sunni Muslim town of Falluja, 70 km (45 miles) west of Baghdad, soldiers searched houses during the night, but by morning were distributing food and supplies. Hostility to the U.S. is widespread in Falluja after a series of bloody clashes.
Thomas said Desert Scorpion involved winning hearts and minds as well as hunting guerrillas. Civil affairs projects such as distributing fuel and food are planned to try to win over the hostile local population.
Some 40 U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks and ambushes in Iraq since Saddam's overthrow two months ago.
The attacks have been concentrated in Baghdad and two nearby areas -- to the west around Ramadi and Falluja, and to the north around Balad, Baquba and Tikrit, Saddam's home town.
The U.S. says remnants of Saddam's regime are behind the attacks. Many locals say they have no love for Saddam but that anger is mounting toward the occupying U.S. soldiers.
The U.S. army said it had no information on a report by Arabic television channel al-Jazeera that a U.S. military headquarters in Ramadi had been attacked with mortars.
PENINSULA STRIKE
U.S. forces last week mounted their biggest operation in Iraq since the end of major combat. Called Operation Peninsula Strike, it involved a series of raids on suspected guerrilla hideouts in the fertile plains of the Tigris river near Balad.
In a statement, the U.S. military said that during the operation, some 400 Iraqis were detained and about 60 were still in custody. Four U.S. soldiers were wounded, along with two Iraqi "hostile civilians." Two former Iraqi generals turned themselves in during the raids, U.S. Central Command said.
Central Command also said Friday U.S. forces had captured the commander of the former Iraqi air force, Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti, but did not reveal where he was caught. He was number 17 on a U.S. list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis.
A U.S. military statement Friday said 27 Iraqis were killed near Balad after they ambushed an American tank patrol, but after doubt was cast on the report a U.S. spokesman declined to confirm whether the death toll was correct.
Locals in the area say five civilians were killed by U.S. troops in an incident Thursday.
Sunday marked the end of a two-week amnesty for Iraqis to hand in heavy weapons without punishment.
"Those who carry weapons in public without a temporary permit will be detained, their weapons confiscated, and subject to imprisonment for up to one year and fines," the U.S. army said in a statement. "Coalition forces will aggressively enforce the weapons control policy."
Under the new rules, Iraqis may not keep anything more formidable than a Kalashnikov assault rifle in their houses and businesses, and may not carry unlicensed guns.
Many Iraqis have complained that they dare not give up their guns until security is restored following the anarchy that ensued after Saddam Hussein's overthrow on April 9.
The U.S. army said that during the amnesty period, Iraqis handed in 123 pistols, 76 semi-automatic rifles, 435 automatic rifles, 46 machineguns, 11 anti-aircraft weapons and 381 grenades and bombs -- a drop in Iraq's ocean of weaponry.
U.S. army spokesman Sergeant Brian Thomas told Reuters that Operation Desert Scorpion, a mission to root out members of Saddam's Baath party and Fedayeen militia blamed for a string of deadly attacks on U.S. troops, began Saturday night.
"We are trying to detain people who want to destabilize Iraq (news - web sites)," he said, adding that the mission would focus on Baghdad and the tense areas to the north and west of the city.
In the Sunni Muslim town of Falluja, 70 km (45 miles) west of Baghdad, soldiers searched houses during the night, but by morning were distributing food and supplies. Hostility to the U.S. is widespread in Falluja after a series of bloody clashes.
Thomas said Desert Scorpion involved winning hearts and minds as well as hunting guerrillas. Civil affairs projects such as distributing fuel and food are planned to try to win over the hostile local population.
Some 40 U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks and ambushes in Iraq since Saddam's overthrow two months ago.
The attacks have been concentrated in Baghdad and two nearby areas -- to the west around Ramadi and Falluja, and to the north around Balad, Baquba and Tikrit, Saddam's home town.
The U.S. says remnants of Saddam's regime are behind the attacks. Many locals say they have no love for Saddam but that anger is mounting toward the occupying U.S. soldiers.
The U.S. army said it had no information on a report by Arabic television channel al-Jazeera that a U.S. military headquarters in Ramadi had been attacked with mortars.
PENINSULA STRIKE
U.S. forces last week mounted their biggest operation in Iraq since the end of major combat. Called Operation Peninsula Strike, it involved a series of raids on suspected guerrilla hideouts in the fertile plains of the Tigris river near Balad.
In a statement, the U.S. military said that during the operation, some 400 Iraqis were detained and about 60 were still in custody. Four U.S. soldiers were wounded, along with two Iraqi "hostile civilians." Two former Iraqi generals turned themselves in during the raids, U.S. Central Command said.
Central Command also said Friday U.S. forces had captured the commander of the former Iraqi air force, Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti, but did not reveal where he was caught. He was number 17 on a U.S. list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis.
A U.S. military statement Friday said 27 Iraqis were killed near Balad after they ambushed an American tank patrol, but after doubt was cast on the report a U.S. spokesman declined to confirm whether the death toll was correct.
Locals in the area say five civilians were killed by U.S. troops in an incident Thursday.
Sunday marked the end of a two-week amnesty for Iraqis to hand in heavy weapons without punishment.
"Those who carry weapons in public without a temporary permit will be detained, their weapons confiscated, and subject to imprisonment for up to one year and fines," the U.S. army said in a statement. "Coalition forces will aggressively enforce the weapons control policy."
Under the new rules, Iraqis may not keep anything more formidable than a Kalashnikov assault rifle in their houses and businesses, and may not carry unlicensed guns.
Many Iraqis have complained that they dare not give up their guns until security is restored following the anarchy that ensued after Saddam Hussein's overthrow on April 9.
The U.S. army said that during the amnesty period, Iraqis handed in 123 pistols, 76 semi-automatic rifles, 435 automatic rifles, 46 machineguns, 11 anti-aircraft weapons and 381 grenades and bombs -- a drop in Iraq's ocean of weaponry.
