BAGHDAD, 20 November 2003 — The US Air Force used some of the largest weapons in its inventory to attack targets in central Iraq as part of the escalating crackdown on suspected guerrilla strongholds, the military said yesterday.

The sound of distant explosions could be heard after sundown yesterday in the Iraqi capital, possibly indicating fresh attacks by US forces against the resistance. There was no comment from the US command.

The US military announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Izzat Ibrahim, a top aide of Saddam Hussein believed to be behind some of the attacks on coalition forces.

Two 900-kilogram (2,000-pound) satellite-guided bombs were dropped late Tuesday near Baqubah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Baghdad on “camps suspected to have been used for bomb-making,” said Maj. Gordon Tate, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division. He said that near the northern city of Kirkuk, fighter-bombers dropped 450-kilogram (1,000-pound) bombs on “terrorist targets.” Tate said it was unclear whether the airstrikes had caused any casualties on the ground.

The military said the continuing attacks were part of the new aggression introduced this month in response to an upsurge in guerrilla activity and a sharp rise in the number of coalition casualties.

In the latest incident, witnesses said resistance fighters yesterday fired on a supply convoy north of Samara. US troops returned fire, killing two Iraqis including a teenager, according to the witnesses. There was no confirmation from the US military.

An Arabic language newspaper, meanwhile, published a statement signed by Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath Party declaring that armed resistance would continue despite plans by the US-led coalition of chief administrator Paul Bremer to accelerate the transfer of power to Iraqis.

The statement said the new US timetable for handing over sovereignty “will not influence the nature of the confrontation and its course set forth by the Iraqi resistance”.

“Those who occupy Iraq, be it through multinational forces under whatever arrangements, will be treated as occupiers that should be legal targets for resistance,” the statement said.

In the southern town of Diwaniyah, gunmen assassinated the Education Ministry’s director general for the province, government officials said yesterday.

A spokesman for the Education Ministry in the capital said Hmud Kadhim was shot to death by unknown assailants on Tuesday. An investigation was under way, the spokesman said.

Guerrillas have warned that they will assassinate Iraqis who collaborate with occupation authorities, including officials such as Kadhim whose job made him one of the top officials in Diwaniyah province. On Tuesday, two policemen were injured when assailants tossed a grenade at a police station in Mosul, police said yesterday.

Also yesterday, a roadside bomb went off in the southern city of Basra as a British civilian convoy was passing by, damaging a vehicle, according to British spokesman Maj. Hisham Halawi.

The reward for the capture of Izzat Ibrahim, former vice chairman of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council, follows reports from US officials that he may have orchestrated some recent attacks. Ibrahim, No. 6 on the list of 55 most wanted Iraqis, was placed in charge of Iraq’s northern defenses shortly before the war started March 20.

On Tuesday night, US forces again targeted an abandoned dye factory in southern Baghdad that was hit twice last week by artillery and airstrikes. Aerial attacks were also reported on orchards and empty farmland surrounding the military base on Baghdad’s western outskirts.

The military said the continuing attacks were part of Operation Iron Hammer, the new aggressive tactic of initiating attacks against the resistance before they strike.

In recent days, US forces have used heavy artillery, battle tanks, attack helicopters, F-16 fighter-bombers and AC-130 gunships to pound targets throughout central Iraq, including Tikrit, Baqubah and Fallujah.

But residents expressed bewilderment at show of force and the choice of targets in territory fully controlled by coalition forces, and said there was no sign of any guerrilla activity in the area prior to the strikes.

— Additional input from agencies