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Launched major operation june { June 12 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.iraq12jun12,0,7021731.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlineshttp://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.iraq12jun12,0,7021731.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
U.S. operation targets Hussein loyalists
Thousands of troops participate in strike to crush opposition in north
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Associated Press
Originally published June 12, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Using jet fighters, tank-buster aircraft and patrol boats, the U.S. military launched a major operation to crush opposition north of Baghdad and captured nearly 400 suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists in a bid to end daily attacks against American soldiers.
Code-named "Operation Peninsula Strike" and involving thousands of U.S. troops, the push began Tuesday and was centered on the Tigris River town of Thuluya, 45 miles north of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said.
Thuluya is not far from the main road between Baghdad and Tikrit, Hussein's hometown and a likely place of refuge for die-hard fighters. The war left Thuluya, bristling with date palms, largely untouched.
In the first stage of the operation, soldiers moved into attack and reconnaissance positions, while seeking help from local police, the command said.
The troops from Task Force "Ironhorse" then began air-, land- and water-based raids to block escape routes.
By yesterday, 397 suspects were in custody near Balad, a town 37 miles north of Baghdad, and a large cache of arms and ammunition had been seized, the U.S. military said. A curfew was imposed from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m.
"A variety of units are incorporated into the operation, using the overwhelming firepower," the command said in a statement. Armor, artillery, aviation and engineers along with Air Force elements "continue to work together to accomplish the mission," it said.
In a separate operation, two Iraqi men armed with Kalashnikovs attacked a U.S. position north of the town of Khaldiyah, 45 miles west of Baghdad, said Maj. Justin Rideout of the 3rd Infantry Division.
One Iraqi was killed, Rideout said. Two U.S. soldiers were wounded when their automatic grenade launcher malfunctioned.
The main fighting in the war is over, but dozens of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis have been killed or wounded in skirmishes that break out almost daily. Ten Americans have been killed since May 26.
In the latest U.S. death, assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades Tuesday at a weapons collection checkpoint outside Baghdad, killing a paratrooper and wounding another, the U.S. military said yesterday.
The soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade were manning the position in Baghdad's southwestern suburbs when a van stopped about 250 yards away and men jumped out.
They fired two grenade rounds at the squad and then escaped down an alleyway, according to a Central Command statement.
In other news, the U.S.-controlled Iraq Central Bank is printing new bank notes bearing the likeness of Hussein - an effort to overcome a severe shortage of Iraqi dinars and to counteract fears of a surge in counterfeit currency.
Issuing new 250-dinar bills "seems to be the best solution even though it does involve printing a currency with Saddam's face on it," said L. Paul Bremer III, the civilian administrator for Iraq. "It's not a joy."
Last month, Bremer banned the posting of any images or likenesses of the Iraqi leader, a fact he acknowledged Tuesday. But the need to print the new currency quickly required using already existing equipment.
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