A US Marine blindfolds a man during raid in western city of Ramadi . (Reuters)

BAGHDAD, July 9, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The US occupation army in Iraq said on Saturday, July 9, it had launched a new offensive, the fourth in a month, against resistance fighters in the country.

It said that Operation Scimitar led to the arrest of 22 suspects since it was launched in secret in the village of Zaidon 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Fallujah on Thursday, July 7, Reuters reported.

The onslaught involves about 500 US troops and 100 Iraqis, making it about half the scale of Operation Sword and Operation Spear in the past three weeks.

During Operation Spear, the occupation troops called in air strikes and left much of the border town of Karabila in ruins after battles they said killed dozens of “insurgents,” a term used by the US-led occupation authorities and Iraqi government to describe resistance fighters.

Eyewitnesses and locals, however, said the successive raids have claimed many innocent lives and left much of the targeted cities and towns in ruins.

Resistance hub Fallujah was the scene of one of the bloodiest US raids in November 2004 with at least 700 people killed, including children and women, and thousands injured.

Tal Afar Onslaught

In a related development, US occupation troops launched early on Saturday another offensive on the northern city of Tal Afar , backed by warplanes and heavy artillery.

Mohammad Omar, a journalist, told Aljazeera news channel over the phone from the embattled city that at least 15 houses and a primary school were destroyed in the operation.

In September 2004, American troops along with Iraqi forces attacked the city, near the Syrian borders, under claims of combating “infiltration” of foreign fighters into the country.

After a week-long of bombing, thousands of the residents returned home to see destruction everywhere and dozens killed under the debris of their homes.

Despite the US iron-fisted policy, resistance attacks and bombings in the country continue unabated with the US death toll increasing day in and day out.

A death toll of up to 1,600 US soldiers in two years has raised the alarm in the US with Democrat and Republican lawmakers rethinking support for the war and pressing for a specific withdrawal timetable.

Targeting Diplomats

This month has seen a relative lull in car bombings – down to around one a day in Baghdad from twice that last month, according to Reuters.

But US commanders say the total number of resistance attacks is fairly stable, at 50- 60 a day, and that there has been a shift toward other forms  of violence, including attacks on diplomats.

Offering condolences to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the killing of Cairo 's envoy to Baghdad by Al-Qaeda militants, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani proposed a regional conference on fighting violence.

Mubarak supported the proposal, Talabani's office said in a statement.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari dismissed the killing of Ihab Rl-Sherif as a "cowardly act" meant to "terrorize a brotherly Arab Muslim country."

Egypt said it was cutting staff at its embassy after its mission chief was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda's Iraq wing.

The Baghdad government and its sponsors in Washington have been trying to stem an exodus of diplomats after similar attacks on the Pakistani and Bahraini envoys.

Pakistan withdrew its ambassador after his motorcade was fired on, and Bahrain 's envoy was wounded by gunmen.

Other Arab countries have yet to give their diplomats in Baghdad full ambassador status, although Iraq says Jordan and Syria will soon do so.

Baghdad and Washington have called on Arab states not to let the attacks stop them from upgrading ties.