Baghdad push moves back to Dora

Above: Iraqi soldiers prepare this morning. Left: Colored box shows Dora district.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Thunderous booms were heard across Baghdad as U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation in a Sunni insurgent-infested neighborhood on Thursday, a spokesman said.

Iraqi army Brig. Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi commander of the Baghdad security plan, said a joint U.S.-Iraqi force had moved into the southern neighborhood of Dora. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.

The statement came a day after thousands of U.S. troops swept house-to-house through mostly Shiite areas near a militia stronghold in northeastern Baghdad in the opening phase of the long-awaited Baghdad security crackdown.

Also Thursday, a mortar attack struck near the heavily fortified Green Zone and the U.S. Embassy said two people were injured, including an American contractor.

The mortar shells landed near an entrance to the vast complex that houses the U.S. and British embassies, as well as Iraqi government offices.

Read the rest at the Guardian

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