Operation Swarmer

HOO-RAH!!

US launches major offensive against Sunni insurgents

More than 50 US warplanes were today involved in the biggest air offensive launched by the Americans in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, the US military said.
A huge air and land offensive was launched this morning against insurgents in an area north-east of the volatile town of Samarra, which is 60 miles north of Baghdad.

The US military, which announced details of the operation late this afternoon, said some 1,500 Iraqi and US troops and 200 tactical vehicles were involved in Operation Swarmer, which it said would last several days.

The operation began with Iraqi and US forces conducting a combined air and ground assault before forces from the 2nd Commando Brigade seized buildings in the area.

Near the end of the first day of the operation, a number of enemy weapons caches had been captured, the US military said. The caches included "artillery shells, explosives, [improvised explosive devices] IED-making materials, and military uniforms".

Insurgents in Samarra, which is a predominantly Sunni town, stoked sectarian tensions last month by destroying a major Shia shrine, the Golden Mosque, prompting a wave of revenge killings and violence against Sunnis.

Samarra is a key city in the Salahuddin province, which is a major part of the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents have been active since shortly after the US-led invasion three years ago. Saddam Hussein was captured in the province, not far from its capital, Tikrit.