Iraqi counter-jihad update. “366 held in anti-insurgent blitz,” from AFP, with thanks to Skeetstreet:
THOUSANDS of US and Iraqi soldiers have swept through Baghdad’s western suburbs, arresting 366 suspected insurgents in the largest joint military operation to date.
The US military said the raid was aimed at quelling a recent upsurge in car bomb attacks in the violence-plagued capital, which have averaged almost one a day this month.
The sweep, codenamed Squeeze Play, kicked off yesterday and involved 1500 US and 2500 Iraqi soldiers, including 600 commandos from the interior ministry’s special Wolf Brigade, US military spokesman Major Webster Wright said.
Another spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Clifford Kent, said: “This is the largest combined operation with Iraqi security forces to date.”…
The suspects included at least two Syrians, two Egyptians and two Yemenis, he said.