Thousands of US and Iraqi troops and police commandos have swept through a cluster of lawless towns south-west of Baghdad in a new offensive against Sunni Muslim insurgents. The raids by 5,000 American, Iraqi and some British troops in what has become known as the "triangle of death" come two weeks after US-led forces stormed the western Sunni city of Fallujah and routed rebels there. The US military says Operation Plymouth Rock began in the town of Jabala but is planned to reach across the Sunni area south-west of Baghdad, where rebels have banished police and rule the streets.Guerrilla and bandit attacks in the area, which straddles major highways between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, have threatened to cut Iraq in half by making travel between Baghdad and the Shiite Muslim south dangerous. "The latest offensive ... follows the swift seizure of the restive city of Fallujah, where terrorists and insurgents suffered significant losses and the elimination of a key sanctuary," the US marines said in a statement. "The joint Iraqi-US force captured 32 suspected insurgents, including a number of high-interest individuals, in a series of early morning raids."
The US military says it is trying to cut the lines of communication between rebels in the western Fallujah area, Baghdad and the province of Babylon, south-west of the capital. Violence in Sunni areas has surged since the start of the Fallujah assault, which drew condemnation from some Sunni political groups and clerics who have threatened to boycott a January 30 election in protest.