US launches massive military operation in Iraq amid growing resistance

　　WASHINGTON, June 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Amid a growing armed resistance to occupation from Iraqi fighters, American forces are launching the biggest military operation in Iraq since US President George W.Bush declared the major war was over on May 1.

　　In the operation code-named Peninsula Strike, more than 4,000 American soldiers, armed with tanks, helicopters and low-flying AC-130 gunships, poured Friday into the towns of Duluiya and Balad, 45 miles (76 kilometers) north of Baghdad, to crush resistance by supporters of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.

　　US troops killed 27 Iraqi fighters Friday as they pressed ahead with the sweeping offensive, bringing the opposition death toll infour days of skirmishes to about 100, US military officials said.

　　The sweep, started earlier this week, was focused on the so-called "Sunni triangle", ranging from north of and west of Baghdadin central Iraq and to Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.

　　On Thursday, American warplanes bombed an alleged training facility 90 miles (about 150 miles) northwest of Baghdad, looking for members of the now-banned Baath Party, Iraqi paramilitary groups and "other subversive elements," according to a US militarystatement.

　　In the attack on the camp, about 70 opposition fighters were killed, most apparently non-Iraqis from other countries in the region, a senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity.

　　The sweep has resulted in the capture of up to 400 Iraqis, who were being questioned by US officials. So far, more than 2,000 Iraqis are being held by the United States, including more than half of the 55 Iraqi most-wanted by Washington.

　　US and British troops seem to be sucked into a quagmire by the growing armed resistance to American-led occupation in Iraq.

　　A sudden upsurge in violence in the past couple of weeks has killed at least 10 American soldiers and wounded more than 25 in aseries of attacks against checkpoints and military convoys.

　　This week the Pentagon announced that 183 US military personnel had been killed since the war began. Since May 1, 45 have been killed in ambushes and sniper fire, mainly in central Iraq where Saddam Hussein has got strongest support.

　　On Thursday, an armored patrol attached to the US 4th Infantry Division came under rocket propelled grenade attack near Balad.

　　On the same day, Iraqi fighters shot down an Apache helicopter gunship, the first American aircraft downed by ground fire since Saddam's ouster two months ago.

　　According to some accounts, attacks on American soldiers occur daily -- more than a dozen every day in the past week, making American generals admit that the war is far from over..

　　Lt. General David McKiernan, commander of US ground forces in Iraq, said some of the US military's opponents were "regime loyalists", including former Republican Guard and Fedayeen troops. Others were foreign fighters, and some were "anti-western extremists".

　　His troops would be needed in Iraq for a long time, and Baghdadas well as a large area of northern and western Iraq is only a "semi-permissive" environment, McKiernan said. Enditem