PROGRESS

THE United States military has recently drawn up "a much clearer picture" of the guerrilla network operating in the Iraqi capital, two senior officials said yesterday.

They said the military had "non-specific intelligence" that car bombs were being prepared in Baghdad. But the information was not detailed enough to prevent Sunday’s suicide bombing outside the US-led coalition’s headquarters.

"We think in the past month we have made some significant advances against their organisation. We have a much clearer picture of the network and who their cell-leaders are," said one official.

He did not say how long it will take the army to wipe out the network, which officials earlier said was made up of 14 cells, each with ten to 100 members.

The new picture has emerged from intelligence gathered from almost 600 suspected insurgents arrested since November by the 1st Armoured Division, which is in charge of the Baghdad area. Saddam’s capture on 13 December also helped add clarity to the picture, the official said.

The cells are made up principally of former members of the Baath Party. The insurgents also include criminals and "others", among them religious extremists and foreign insurgents.

And apparently the 1st Armored Division isn't letting any grass grow under its feet:

US military officers said they had kicked off a new offensive in Baghdad, called Operation Iron Resolve, aimed at landing a knockout blow against insurgent leaders and financiers in the capital.

"Operation Iron Resolve... is really an offensive operation ... to attack the former regime insurgent cell leaders and the financiers" based on intelligence gathered in the last month, said a senior military officer.

The operation, which also involves the new Iraqi army and the Iraqi civil defense corps, looks to follow up on a flurry of major intelligence coups boasted by the First Armoured Division since November.