US, Iraqi troops sweep thru' 'triangle of death'

An Iraqi man gives a woman registration forms for the coming national elections, in Baghdad yesterday. US-led forces swept hotspots south of Baghdad in a push to reclaim rebel enclaves ahead of key January polls, as more than 200 political groups threw their hat in the electoral ring. PHOTO: AFP

The launch of the huge operation in the notorious area south of Baghdad on Tuesday came as the international community threw its weight behind the tight timetable for Iraq's first post-Saddam Hussein elections.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States would add an unspecified number of troops to its forces in Iraq and beef up Iraqi forces ahead of the January 30 vote.

Some 5,000 American, British and Iraqi forces took part in Operation Plymouth Rock that began with raids on villages north of the city of Hilla, the capital other province of Babylon, the US military said.

The massive coalition force looked set Wednesday to make its way northwards to the lawless areas blocking access to the capital.

The towns of Latifiyah, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiyah and Iskandariyah lie inside the triangle of death, an area where Sunni Muslim rebels have carried out strings of deadly attacks in recent months.

The operation came hot on the heels of a massive assault on Fallujah, the largest since last year's US-led invasion. The city had been under insurgent control since April and its recapture was seen as essential to organizing the promised January elections.

Most of Fallujah's 300,000 inhabitants had fled the city before the assault began November 8, but as a few rebel pockets are still to be brought under control, humanitarian needs inside the city remain unknown.

Iraq was meanwhile pressing ahead with preparations for the elections.

More than 200 Iraqi political parties have been approved for participation in the polls, electoral commission chief Abdel Hussein al-Hindawi told AFP.

With the deadline for presenting full electoral lists only a week away, parties and organisations were in the final stages of discussions to form alliances ahead of the official launch of the campaign on December 15.

Meanwhile, British troops joined their US and Iraqi counterparts in a massive new offensive against insurgent strongholds as efforts intensified to restore government control in time for January elections.

The launch of the huge operation Tuesday in the so-called Triangle of Death just south of Baghdad came as the international community threw its weight behind the tight timetable for Iraq's first post-Saddam Hussein elections.

US and Iraqi forces swept through the village of Jabella just north of the city of Hilla to kick off the fresh offensive to restore control in the northern part of Babil province, the US military said.