By Xinhua
Baghdad : U.S. warplanes bombarded 40 targets of suspected al-Qaida safe havens, dropping 40,000 pounds of explosives during ten minutes on Thursday morning, the U.S. military said.
A military statement said that two B-1 bomber and four F-16 fighter jets struck targets in the Arab Jabour area, which is a stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq militants in south of the capital.
“Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first ten minutes, with a total tonnage of 40,000 pounds,” the statement said.
The U.S.-Iraqi joint forces Tuesday unveiled a military operation dubbed “Phantom Phoenix,” which is designed to make the current security gains sustainable.
In spite of the ebb of violence, the U.S. military warned that al-Qaida is still capable of launching “spectacular” attacks in Iraq.
The attack came a day after the U.S. army announced the killing of nine of its troops north of the capital.