BAGHDAD (AFP) - Thousands of US and Iraqi troops launched a massive assault on Al-Qaeda strongholds south of Baghdad on Monday in a bid to stem the flow of weapons into the Iraqi capital, the US military said.
Operation Marne Avalanche is targeting insurgents in and around the Sunni town of Jurf al-Sakhr which lies between the western Anbar and the central Shiite Babil provinces.
"An operation has been launched there involving US and Iraqi troops along the Euphrates valley," Major Alayne Conway, spokeswoman for the US military told AFP.