US warplanes unleashed one of the most intense airstrikes of the Iraq War, dropping 18,145kg of explosives in a thunderous 10-minute onslaught on suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq safe havens in Sunni farmlands south of Baghdad.
The mighty barrage on Thursday -- recalling the Pentagon's "shock and awe" raids during the 2003 invasion -- appeared to mark a significant escalation in a countrywide offensive launched this week to try to cripple remaining insurgent strongholds.
But it also fits into the endgame strategy of last year's US troop buildup, which seeks to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas as a buffer zone for the capital. US commanders are now attempting to subdue the last insurgent footholds around Baghdad before the Pentagon faces a possible reduction in troop strength.
Some of the additional 30,000 troops have been pulled out and the remainder are expected to depart by June, military officials have said. With insurgents still holding pockets south of the capital and in districts to the north and far north -- including the key northern city of Mosul -- the military apparently wants to take the remaining four months or so to use the expanded military muscle against al-Qaeda.
After Thursday's airstrikes, US and Iraqi soldiers advanced through smoldering citrus groves into areas that were considered important al-Qaeda enclaves around Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad. An Iraqi officer said the soldiers discovered two houses used to torture kidnap victims and arrested at least 12 suspected insurgents.
Little initial resistance was reported. At least nine US soldiers have been killed since the offensive began on Tuesday -- the deadliest days for US forces since last fall.
In the farming village of Zambaraniyah, on the outskirts of Arab Jabour about 14.5km southeast of the capital, scenes of neglect and devastation were testimony to years of fighting between militants and US and Iraqi troops.
Most of the land is torched or left fallow along small roads that were once laced with booby traps and bombs.
Major Alayne Conway, a spokeswoman for troops in central Iraq, said the amount of ordnance dropped in 10 minutes almost exceeded what had been used in the region in any month since June.
Conway said the air attack "was one of the largest airstrikes since the onset of the war" in March 2003.
A military statement said two B-1 bombers and four F-16 fighters hit 40 targets in Arab Jabour in 10 strikes. Al-Qaeda fighters are believed to control the area, a Sunni district lined with citrus groves.
"Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first 10 minutes, with a total tonnage of 40,000 pounds [18,145kg]," it said.
The Iraqi army officer, whose unit is in the Arab Jabour area, said the airstrikes began at 8am and set several groves ablaze and destroyed two houses used by gunmen. He said soldiers confiscated documents and weapons including AK-47s. The army officer spoke on condition of anonymity.
Moahmoud Chiad, who lives on the edge of Arab Jabour, said he was surprised to see many US-Iraqi checkpoints with Iraqi security forces. Iraqis used loudspeakers to order residents to stay home.
"After this, we saw US helicopters hovering over the area while the sounds of jet fighters were also heard," he said. "Minutes later, there were the sounds of big explosions. We saw fire and smoke coming out from some groves. Then, the gunfire crackled in the groves, but it ended by noon."
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
RIGHTS FEARS: A protester said Beijing would use the embassy to catch and send Hong Kongers to China, while a lawmaker said Chinese agents had threatened Britons Hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday protested at a site earmarked for Beijing’s controversial new embassy in London over human rights and security concerns. The new embassy — if approved by the British government — would be the “biggest Chinese embassy in Europe,” one lawmaker said earlier. Protester Iona Boswell, a 40-year-old social worker, said there was “no need for a mega embassy here” and that she believed it would be used to facilitate the “harassment of dissidents.” China has for several years been trying to relocate its embassy, currently in the British capital’s upmarket Marylebone district, to the sprawling historic site in the
‘IMPOSSIBLE’: The authors of the study, which was published in an environment journal, said that the findings appeared grim, but that honesty is necessary for change Holding long-term global warming to 2°C — the fallback target of the Paris climate accord — is now “impossible,” according to a new analysis published by leading scientists. Led by renowned climatologist James Hansen, the paper appears in the journal Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development and concludes that Earth’s climate is more sensitive to rising greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought. Compounding the crisis, Hansen and colleagues argued, is a recent decline in sunlight-blocking aerosol pollution from the shipping industry, which had been mitigating some of the warming. An ambitious climate change scenario outlined by the UN’s climate
BACK TO BATTLE: North Korean soldiers have returned to the front lines in Russia’s Kursk region after earlier reports that Moscow had withdrawn them following heavy losses Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals as part of a push to appeal to US President Donald Trump’s penchant for a deal. The US president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine’s war with Russia, on Monday said he wanted Ukraine to supply the US with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” Zelenskiy said, emphasizing Ukraine’s need for security guarantees