TIKRIT, 13 November 2003 — Hundreds of Iraqi police mounted house-to-house raids in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit yesterday, the first operation of its kind without direct US military support.

Shortly before sunrise, 400 newly trained officers were dropped off by car and bus in a northern district of the town, on the banks of the Tigris River, and fanned out in a hunt for weapons, explosives and suspects behind recent attacks, including last week’s downing of a Black Hawk helicopter.

“I think the person who shot down the helicopter is living in this area, or he has friends in this area,” Maj. Gen. Hamed Muzhir, head of the Iraqi National Police in Tikrit, told reporters.

“Not anyone can shoot down a helicopter — you need special training for that, the sort of training that someone who was with the former regime would have got.”

Six soldiers were killed when the Black Hawk was downed last Friday, the third attack on a US helicopter in two weeks.

Until yesterday, all raids in and around Tikrit, a hotbed of anti-US insurgency, have been led by US forces, usually involving tanks, armored vehicles, heavily-armed men and helicopters.

But US commanders are keen to move away from that heavy-handed approach and pass more responsibility for raids and other search-and-patrol operations onto local authorities.

Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1/22 Infantry Regiment, which has spearheaded the biggest raids in Tikrit, sees the latest initiative as a first step toward handing Iraqis complete responsibility for their own security.

“This is the first time we’ve seen them take the lead on a major operation, both in planning and execution,” he said, as a small group of his soldiers watched the searches from afar.

“It’s pretty encouraging and a very positive step...that shows they’re taking back responsibility for this city and their country.”

While the Iraqi police, mostly in uniform of light blue shirt, dark blue trousers and a Kalashnikov assault rifle in hand, seemed pleased to be leading their own raid, their methods differed from the usual US approach. Choosing a 16-square-kilometer area in which to search, small teams went uncertainly from house to house, occasionally skipping one or two, and politely knocked before going in.

After a few words of welcome at one modest home, they conducted a quick search in the kitchen, under the bed and in a wardrobe before murmuring “thank yous” and leaving.

“I guess we’d probably be a little more focused in our area of operation and in our methods, but they’ve got the right idea,” said Russell, whose men often break down doors, shout and fire warning shots when they go raiding.

For what they make up for in civility, however, the approach of the Iraqi police is perhaps less effective than the Americans in terms of results.

After five hours of searching, the raid turned up a handful of rocket-propelled grenades, a mortar and an explosive device. US raids often produce dozens of RPGs, mortars, rockets and small bombs.

“To be honest, we’ve already searched a lot of these homes,” said Russell, as the Iraqi policemen knocked on another gate.