U.S., Iraqi forces stage Baghdad raids (Shiite areas)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces staged raids in Baghdad's main Shiite militant stronghold Tuesday as part of politically sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Troops have held back on broad sweeps through the teeming Sadr City slums since a major security operation began earlier this month, targeting militant factions and sectarian death squads that have ruled Baghdad's streets.

Al-Sadr withdrew his powerful Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the neighbor-by-neighbor security sweeps move ahead. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and others have opposed extensive U.S.-led patrols through Sadr City, fearing a violent backlash could derail the security effort.

The pre-dawn raids appeared to highlight a strategy of pinpoint strikes in Sadr City rather than the flood of soldiers sent into some Sunni districts.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

A car bomb in Karrada, in central Baghdad, killed five people and wounded 10 on Tuesday, hours after another car bomb in the same area killed two people and wounded four, a police source said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major security crackdown in Baghdad earlier this month but insurgents have kept up their campaign of bombings and suicide attacks.

A roadside bomb in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad killed another two people on Tuesday, and wounded 11, police said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR739934.htm

* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad killed two people and wounded 11, police said.

* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded three policemen in Zayouna in eastern Baghdad, a police source said.

AL-BAAJ - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt killed four people and wounded six others in the reception of a company specialising in manufacturing cement barriers for the Iraqi security forces in the town of al-Baaj, about 100 km (60 miles) west of Mosul, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed a university student in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A total of 25 bodies were found shot dead and most showings signs of torture on Monday in different districts of Baghdad, police said.

link: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR731341.htm