IRAQ:The new US operation to pacify Baghdad began yesterday as American forces suffered a fresh blow when another helicopter crashed, killing seven.
The crash in Anbar province is the fifth loss of a helicopter in the last fortnight. A US military spokesman said that all crew and passengers were killed.
The official said the initial assessment was that the helicopter, operated by the marines, did not appear to have been hit by hostile fire, although an Iraqi air force officer said that it had been brought down by a ground-to-air missile. A Sunni group claimed responsibility.
Mohammad al-Janabi, a local farmer, told the Associated Press: "The helicopter was flying and passed over us, then we heard the firing of a missile. The helicopter then turned into a ball of fire. It flew in a circle twice, then it went down."
Maj-Gen William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, confirmed that the latest security clampdown on Baghdad was under way. "It is not going to be a sudden effort, it will be a gradual effort," he said.
President George Bush announced last month a "surge" of 21,500 extra troops into Baghdad and Anbar province, the main centres of violence. More than half are now in place. The aim is to focus on one or two districts of the capital at a time, seeking to control access and squeeze insurgents, the militias, the sectarian death squads and criminal gangs.
Maj-Gen Caldwell said: "People have to be patient. Portions are already being put in place and we will continue to put more into place as the forces arrive and the assets become available."
US defence secretary Robert Gates, testifying before the Senate armed services committee yesterday, admitted that he had ordered the Pentagon to begin work on a "Plan B".
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice told the Senate foreign relations committee that the surge was not open-ended, but she refused to set a deadline. - ( Guardian Service)