40,000 troops sent to end violence in Baghdad

THE Iraqi government yesterday announced that 40,000 soldiers were to be deployed in Baghdad to try to end the wave of violence that has killed more than 620 people this month.

Under Operation Thunder, the biggest Iraqi military operation since the fall of Saddam Hussein, troops will block roads into the capital and set up hundreds of checkpoints. They will be backed up by 10,000 United States troops.

The crackdown will be followed by similar anti-terrorism moves across the country.

"We shall not leave any place for terrorists or those who shelter them and incite terrorism in Iraq," the defence minister, Sadoun al-Dulaimi, said. "We will stand against all those who try to shed Iraqi blood."

The crackdown is the first major security action by the new government and comes as US forces conduct a security sweep in western Iraq. At least 15 Iraqis, including a child, died in violence yesterday. A US marine died of injuries sustained a day earlier during the launch of an anti-insurgent offensive involving about 1,000 troops in the western city of Haditha.

Mr Jabr confirmed internet reports that the militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been injured. Another internet statement yesterday claimed that al-Qaeda in Iraq had appointed a temporary replacement for Zarqawi. The statement was later denied.

A helicopter crashed north of Baghdad after coming under small arms fire, the US military said last night. A second helicopter landed safely, but the fate of the first crew was unknown.