U.S. backs major military operation

BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi forces waged battles on Baghdad’s northern and southern flanks to clear out Sunni insurgents, al Qaeda fighters and Shi’ite militiamen who had fled the capital and Anbar during a four-month-old security operation, military officials said yesterday.

The death toll in sectarian violence skyrocketed after a brief period of relative peace. At least 111 persons were killed or found dead nationwide, with 33 bodies of torture victims showing up in Baghdad alone.

A top U.S. military official said U.S. forces were taking advantage of the arrival of the final brigade of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to open the concerted attacks.

We are going into the areas that have been sanctuaries of al Qaeda and other extremists to take them on and weed them out, to help get the areas clear and to really take on al Qaeda, the senior official said on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the operation. Those are areas in the belts around Baghdad, some parts in Anbar province and specifically Diyala province.

Al Qaeda has proven to be an extremely agile foe for U.S. and Iraqi forces, as shown by its ability to transfer major operations to Diyala’s provincial capital of Baqouba from Anbar province, the sprawling desert region in western Iraq. There is no guarantee that driving the organization out of current sanctuaries would prevent it from migrating to other regions to continue the fight.

In the south, Iraqi officials reported that as many as 36 persons were killed in fierce overnight fighting that began as British and Iraqi forces conducted house-to-house searches in Amarah, a stronghold of the Shi’ite Mahdi Army militia.

The U.S. military issued a statement that at least 20 persons were killed in clashes with coalition forces. A spokeswoman for Britain’s Ministry of Defense said British soldiers played a supporting role to Iraqi security forces during the raid and fighting in Amarah. She spoke on the condition of anonymity, which is ministry policy.

The operations on Baghdad’s flanks were opened by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, which has taken over dangerous al Qaeda-infested regions just south of the city. The division began its drive into the Salman Pak and Arab Jabour districts on the city’s southeastern fringe over the weekend.

The military said yesterday that fighter jets dropped four precision-guided bombs in support of 1,200 U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry as they started moving on al Qaeda targets.

In Washington, President Bush had a nearly hourlong secure video teleconference with Iraqi leaders yesterday and came away impressed and reassured by the progress they are making on political, security and economic reforms, the White House said.

Spokesman Tony Snow acknowledged that U.S. officials have heard similar positive statements from Iraqi leaders before, but said: “We think they are very serious in moving on the key items. … I think the president was impressed and reassured by the sense of seriousness that he heard.”