The US military has launched an intensive series of air strikes on what it says were al-Qa'ida targets in the southern outskirts of Baghdad.
US warplanes dropped around 40,000lbs of explosives on more than 40 targets during the 10-minute bombing blitz.
The attacks were mounted as part of a new US offensive against al-Qa'ida in Iraq that began on Tuesday.
Yesterday, the US announced that nine soldiers involved in the operation had already been killed during two separate attacks in the provinces of Diyala and Salahuddin.
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