Monday, 19 June 2006US and Iraqi troops have set up extra checkpoints in the insurgent stronghold town of Ramadi in an effort to restrict the militants' movements.
The city has become a key centre of the Iraqi insurgency, with much of Ramadi no-go areas for US troops.
Commanders stress there are no plans for a full-scale assault on the city.
In Baghdad, which was rocked by a string of explosions on Saturday, 10 bakery workers were kidnapped at gunpoint from a mainly Shia area.
The bodies of nine other men were found elsewhere in the city, bearing signs of torture, police said.
South of Baghdad, a hunt is continuing for two US soldiers missing since an attack on Friday on their checkpoint. Some witnesses say they were kidnapped by masked militants.
In Ramadi, US commanders described the operation to put a stranglehold on insurgent movements as part of "ongoing" operations, and said no extra troops had been deployed to the area.
"We are focusing on multiple sites used by the insurgents to plan and conduct terrorist attacks and store weapons," Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Salas told Reuters news agency.
"We have also set up additional checkpoints to restrict the flow of insurgents, but citizens will still be able to enter and leave the city."
He added: "This is just one part of a long-term plan to restore stability to Ramadi."
'Little resistance'
Reports suggested that the US and Iraqi troops had moved into fresh positions to the south of the city.
"The good news is that we didn't get as much resistance as we're prepared for," Lieutenant Colonel V J Tedesco was quoted by AP news agency as saying. "I really think the fight will be in the coming days."
Some 400,000 people live in Ramadi. The city is the capital of Anbar province, which stretches into the desert to the west of Baghdad.
The province has been a centre of resistance since the early days of the insurgency, and many districts of the city are said to be under control of insurgents.
BBC News
June 18, 2006 |
Monday, 19 June 2006
Iraq
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