News from the front lines : Iraq - Baghdaad

Homicide Bombers Kill at Least 200 in Iraq

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,293288,00.html

Just north of the capital, a homicide truck bomber devastated a key bridge on the highway linking Baghdad with Mosul. Police said at least 10 people died. The Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji — near a U.S. air base 12 miles north of the capital — also was bombed three months ago, leaving only one lane open. The violence punctuated a day when 16,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers began a sweep through the Diyala River valley in a new operation north of Baghdad in pursuit of Sunni insurgents and Shiite militiamen driven out of Baqouba and Anbar province over the past several weeks. Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a military spokesman in northern Iraq, said the force included 10,000 Americans and 6,000 Iraqis. He said U.S. aircraft used more than 30,000 pounds of munitions to block routes and destroy known and suspected heavy machine gun positions.The Air Force also dropped 9,000 pounds of bombs to attack an Al Qaeda in Iraq training camp, which included bunkers, living quarters, weapons and ammunition caches, Donnelly said. Three suspected militants had been killed and four booby-trapped houses destroyed, he said, citing preliminary reports. In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the new operation was one in a series planned over the next 30 days to try to blunt expected attempts by Al Qaeda in Iraq to influence events during "this critical period" as the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, plans his assessment for Congress.
"We fully expect that Al Qaeda in Iraq would like to increase their attacks during this critical period," Whitman said Tuesday. "And this increased intensity in offensive operations ... will take the fight to the enemy with the purpose of improving the overall security situation in Baghdad" as well as increase "pressure on Al Qaeda in Iraq countrywide and prevent the enemy from conducting their own operations."
Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's Iraq Center.


Raid Kills Four, Nets Eight Terrorists in Baghdad's Sadr CityBy American Forces Press ServiceMichNews.comAug 14, 2007

http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_17598.shtml

WASHINGTON - Coalition forces killed four terrorists and detained a Jaysh al-Mahdi militia leader and several of his operatives during a raid in the Sadr City section of Baghdad early this morning.

Coalition Troops Launch Operation Phantom Strike in IraqMichNews.com-- WASHINGTON - Coalition soldiers today launched a major joint offensive, Operation Phantom Strike, in a powerful crackdown to disrupt al Qaeda and Iranian-supported extremist operations in Iraq.Aug 14, 2007, 20:26 ETNewswireCoalition Forces Capture, Kill Insurgents in IraqMichNews.com-- WASHINGTON - Iraqi and coalition forces detained 66 insurgents, killed five others and discovered weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.Aug 14, 2007, 20:24 ET

Troops Kill, Capture Insurgents, Discover Weapons in Afghanistan

MichNews.com-- WASHINGTON - Afghan forces working in concert with coalition forces netted three suspects and a weapons cache and killed several insurgents in Afghanistan over the past three days.Aug 14, 2007, 20:19 ET

Bush threatens IRAN

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/318143.html