As of Wednesday the occupation troops had arrested 397 Iraqis

BAGHDAD, June 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. army arrested around 400 Iraqis suspected of participating in recent resistance attacks against U.S. occupation troops, U.S. Central Command announced on Wednesday, June 11.

The sweep launched Monday, June 9, by the U.S.-led troops was "one of the largest operations in a continuing effort to secure the peace in Iraq" after the ouster of Saddam Hussein two months ago, Centcom spokesman Lieutenant Ryan Fitzgerald told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"It's an ongoing operation, and we don't discuss the size or scope of such things until they are over," he added.

The two-phased operation consisted of a series of raids to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other "subversive elements" that U.S. intelligence "believed" had found refuge in several communities perched on a peninsula along the Tigris River, northeast of the town of Balad, according to the command.

It started early Monday, when a brigade-size task force, mainly from the Fourth Infantry Division, moved into position on the perimeter of the peninsula and established multiple checkpoints, cutting off escape routes to what the occupation forces call suspected militants.

During the second stage, air and ground assault teams and commandos in river patrol boats moved in to round up and arrest resistance elements.

The attack was supported from the air by combat helicopters, fighter jets and other warplanes, defense officials said without providing specifics.

U.S. military officials said they had thrown infantry, backed by warplanes, combat helicopters, armor, artillery and river patrols, into an effort to root out stubborn resistance north of Baghdad.

As of Wednesday the troops had arrested 397 Iraqi "suspects", and large quantities of weapons and ammunition, according to the Central Command.

The detainees are being interrogated by special units that are trying to collect information, "which can be used in the apprehension of hostile groups who continue to try to harm coalition forces and innocent Iraqi people," the command said.

A 10:00 pm to 4:00 am curfew has been imposed across the peninsula.

Fitzerald said the operation has since been expanded to include other parts of Iraq, which he refused to name.

The crackdown follows a string of recent resistance attacks on U.S. forces in central and western Iraq that resulted in the deaths of more than 40 U.S. servicemen since May 1, when President George W, Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.

The U.S.-led occupation has been plagued with daily attacks as it tries to consolidate its hold on Iraq, where about 160,000 American and British soldiers are currently deployed.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon identified the latest victim of such attacks as Private First Class Gavin Neighbor, 20, of Somerset, Ohio, who was killed Tuesday in Baghdad when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired into a bus where he was resting.

A total of 138 U.S. soldiers were killed in the full combat phase of the war that started on March 20, including 114 in combat and 24 in accidents, said spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Colin.

"Near-Death Experience"

As the U.S.-led coalition sought to hold its grip on Iraq, NATO defense ministers were gathering in Brussels to try to heal diplomatic rifts over the war and plot a potential role for the alliance in the battered country.

While first dismissing the hit-and-run attacks on U.S. troops as the work of criminals, terrorists and isolated Saddam supporters, Washington has lately conceded it might be facing some level of organized resistance.

Iraq topped the agenda for Thursday's meeting of NATO defense ministers, who want top repair the damage within the 19-member alliance from a major row that erupted in the pre-war debate over U.S. invasion plans.

A senior U.S. official said NATO had undergone a "near-death experience" in February, when three anti-war countries blocked the alliance from providing defensive support for Turkey ahead of the Iraq conflict.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, visiting Germany ahead of the meeting, called Wednesday on U.S. allies in Europe to unite, despite bruising differences over Iraq.

"It is really a matter of attitude, of the vision the countries bring to the trans-Atlantic relationship and to the challenge we all face in the years ahead," he said.