Eagle Day in Iraq: The Republic Strikes Back!

(AP) In this handout photo released by the U.S. Military on Thursday March 16, 2006, U.S. helicopters

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Largest air assault since 2003...

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060316/D8GCPNO06.html

U.S., Iraqis Launch 'Operation Swarmer'
Mar 16, 12:09 PM (ET)
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA (AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.

The U.S. military said the offensive dubbed Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days.

"More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said.

Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, was the site of a massive bombing against a Shiite shrine on Feb. 22 that touched off sectarian bloodshed that has killed more than 500 and injured hundreds more, threatening to push Iraq into civil war.