US launches artillery barrage in southern Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Apr 29 (Reuters) The US military in Iraq launched an artillery barrage in southern Baghdad today against suspected insurgent targets, with two dozen loud explosions shaking the southern outskirts of the capital.

US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver said the morning blasts, which were heard across the city, were caused by US artillery but declined to say what the target was.

Tens of thousands of US and Iraqi troops have been deployed in Baghdad as part of a 10-week-old security crackdown to combat sectarian militias and insurgents.

The Iraqi police said the artillery was being fired from the US Forward Operating Base Falcon in southern Baghdad into the al-Buaitha neighbourhood of Dora, a volatile district that is a Sunni insurgent stronghold.

US military commanders say insurgents, including Sunni Islamist group al Qaeda, have regrouped in Baghdad's outlying areas to launch attacks and build car-bombing networks that have caused mass casualties in recent weeks.

Artillery blasts have been heard in the evenings but they are rare in the daytime.

REUTERS DS VV1249