This from The Telegraph in London sounds encouraging.
Hundreds of Iraqi insurgents are trapped inside the "Triangle of Death" following the American assault on Fallujah and the blocking of key escape routes by the Black Watch, according to a British military intelligence officer.He said a "hornet's nest" of insurgents had been stirred by the arrival of the Black Watch and the Queen's Dragoon Guards three weeks ago.
"British troops and US forces have sealed off the insurgents' escape routes and they have nowhere to go," he said. "They are fixed in that area and they are angry.
"There are still some routes out but they are along small, winding roads where they can get bogged down or where they might run into British or American patrols." British and US troops were moving slowly into the "nest", setting up roadblocks, searching for insurgents and seeking intelligence that would help to identify them.
UPDATE: Here's some new information from the U.S. military via AP.
Some 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi commandos launched a new offensive Tuesday aimed at clearing a swath of insurgent hotbeds south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.The joint operation kicked off with early morning raids in the town of Jabella in Babil province, netting 32 suspected insurgents, the U.S. military said in a statement. Jabella is 50 miles south of Baghdad.
Insurgent violence has increased in the areas south of the capital in "an apparent attempt to divert attention" away from the U.S-led assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah, the military said.
The cluster of dusty, small towns located south of the capital, has been a major area for insurgent activity. U.S. and Iraqi forces have come under repeated attacks by car bombs, rockets, and small arms fire in the area.
The region has become known as a "triangle of death" for the numerous attacks by Sunni Muslim insurgents and criminal gangs on Shiites, Westerners and members of the Iraqi security services.
In the past three weeks, Iraqi troops and Marines have detained nearly 250 insurgents in the area, the statement said.
It would seem that this campaign is aimed at the urgent situation described earlier by Iraqi blogger Alaa at The Mesopotamian in posts here and here.
Posted by Alan at November 23, 2004 12:32 AM