Iraq: The Iraqi government announced a huge counter-insurgency operation in the capital yesterday, with 40,000 troops being deployed on the streets within the next week to stop the attacks that have killed more than 650 people in the past month.
In the biggest operation to date involving the country's fledgling forces, soldiers and security officers from the defence and interior ministries are throwing a security cordon around the capital and manning 675 checkpoints.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's new prime minister, said the operation, codenamed Thunder, was aimed at "firmly restoring the initiative to the government" against the insurgents, and tackling suicide car bombers. Under the crackdown, Baghdad is being split into two sectors and 15 districts, with police and emergency personnel operating round the clock and conducting raids on militant safehouses. The initiative may be rolled out to other cities.
The Iraqi defence minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, told a news conference in Baghdad there would be "unprecedented security measures" put in place. He said: "We will have a strong and safe cordon around Baghdad like a bracelet."
The announcement came as rumours about the health of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, reportedly the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq and the country's most wanted man, continued to churn, with government officials hinting for the first time that they believed reports Zarqawi had been injured.
Speaking to reporters in Baghdad yesterday, Mr Jaafari was more cautious. "We must not narrow down the whole phenomena of violence and terrorism only to Zarqawi. It's not about one person and our fight is not simply against one person."
Mr Jaafari said he was confident of "tangible results" from the security plan."Recently we've discovered that there are factories within Baghdad that are making car bombs." The Iraqi security forces were already making progress. "The number of quality leads and tips ... has increased significantly. Now we are uncovering stores of arms, lots of cash buried in different places."
Mr Jaafari's fragile coalition is eager to win public confidence as well as convince the US and international community that its security forces are improving.
US forces have already handed over responsibility for the security of parts of Baghdad to the new Iraqi army. Last week the US handed three bases in the capital to Iraqi commandos.
The increased presence of troops has failed to stop the suicide bombers, but the number of police stations attacked and the setting up of illegal checkpoints has declined. The government said yesterday that more than 150 car bombs had been defused and that 578 people identified as terrorists had been arrested, but the time period was unclear.
Mr Jaafari said Iraq would have to rely on the 160,000 foreign forces in Iraq for some time to come.