"U.S. Drops 40,000 pounds of bombs on suspected militant hideouts..."BAGHDAD — American bombers and fighter aircraft dropped 40,000 pounds of bombs on suspected militant hide-outs in a southern suburb of Baghdad on Thursday, the military said.
In one of the largest air raids in recent months, which was accompanied by assaults by ground forces, the B-1 and F-16 aircraft dropped 38 bombs within 10 minutes on the Arab Jabour district south of Baghdad.
Arab Jabour is a densely foliated area, blanketed with tall grasses and palm trees, beside the Tigris River. United States military officials have identified it as a known haven for militants linked to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group that American intelligence says is foreign-led and now represents the principal threat to stability in Iraq. The air attacks hit more than 40 targets in Arab Jabour, the military said.
According to Abu Amna, a tribal chief who lives near the area, the bombing mission started several miles outside of Arab Jabour on Thursday morning.
“There was a big sound of explosions,” he said in a phone interview. “People began to flee the area after the air bombing because joint forces launched a comprehensive raid after the bombing.”
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