US bombers and fighters attacked what the US military called al-Qaeda safe havens on the southern outskirts of Baghdad today.
The strikes, carried out above approaching troops, was part of Operation Phantom Phoenix, a nationwide campaign begun earlier this week against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
A US military statement
A military statement said the bombs were dropped on 40 targets in Arab Jabour in ten strikes. Al-Qaeda fighters are believed to control Arab Jabour, a Sunni district lined.
"Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first ten minutes, with a total tonnage of 40,000 pounds," the statement said.
The attack came a day after the US military reported that nine American soldiers were killed north of the capital in the first two days of the new offensive.
Many militants have fled US and Iraqi forces massing north of Baghdad in Diyala province.
Six soldiers were killed and four were wounded yesterday in a booby-trapped house in Diyala, the US command said. It also announced that three US soldiers were killed and two wounded in an attack on Tuesday in Salahuddin province, north of Diyala.
During December, 23 US soldiers died in Iraq.
Agencies