CAMP BOOM, 30 June 2003 — US forces launched a massive operation yesterday to crush insurgents and capture senior figures from Saddam Hussein’s ousted regime in a show of force designed to stem a wave of deadly attacks on US troops.
The operation, dubbed “Desert Sidewinder,” is taking place in a huge swath of central Iraq stretching from the Iranian border to the areas north of Baghdad, and is expected to last for several days, military officials said.
Americans arrested a man in Khalis, 70 km north of Baghdad, suspected of recruiting young men to launch attacks on Americans, according to military officials.
In Dojima, an upscale town where residents recently polished the still-standing portrait of Saddam Hussein, police raided the homes of alleged Saddam loyalists they suspected of hiding caches of arms, including rocket-propelled grenades — the weapon of choice in many recent ambushes.
In Basra, hundreds of Iraqi ex-soldiers staged an angry protest at British headquarters yesterday to demand back wages, later dispersing after striking a deal, military sources said.
The soldiers had placed barbed wire and large rocks in front of the main entrance to the British headquarters in Saddam Hussein’s old Al-Barazhiya palace, to blockade the compound, an AFP correspondent saw.
“One of the representatives was brought into the palace and the issue was resolved,” Lt. Cmdr. Clive Woodman told AFP, adding that there had been “one or two instances of stone throwing and a small fire lit.”
“There were around 200 people outside the palace this morning, the same people as were down there yesterday, ex-Iraqi soldiers,” he said, adding that there had been no injuries on either side and that the crowd had dispersed. “The payment will take place on Tuesday,” he added. The Iraqis blocked the headquarters of British forces and hurled stones, preventing two British ambulances from driving out of the former palace and prompting an armored vehicle to take up position at the entrance, the correspondent said.
In Baghdad, another explosion targeted a US convoy yesterday as Washington’s top official in Iraq said coalition forces would suffer further casualties until Saddam Hussein’s supporters were killed or captured.
— Additional input from Agencies
