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US detained 104, no casualties in Samarra raid
 The US military said that Operation Swarmer, the largest air raid in Iraq since the war began three years ago, resulted in no casualties among the assaulting allied troops. According to the Pentagon, the US military arrested 104 suspected insurgents for questioning as the operation wrapped up on Wednesday. The operation that focused on the Iraqi city of Samarra began last week with a helicopter that transported about 1500 US and Iraqi soldiers to the area.A US military statement said that forces moved through the area using intelligence provided mainly by Iraqi forces and faced "light resistance." Weapons caches were found, according to the Pentagon, that included shoulder-fired missiles, more than 350 mortar rounds, a variety of bomb-making materials, over 120 rockets, nearly 90 grenades and machine guns of various types. The raid, which was planned months ago according to high level US military generals, was aimed at ridding Samarra of insurgent hideouts. Posted by: Fred 2006-03-25 |
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