U.S. troops launch anti-insurgency ops near Saddam's home

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. troops rounded up 49 suspected guerrillas near Saddam Hussein's hometown Friday, a day after Iraq's most violent rebel groups warned voters against participating in crucial elections for a constitutional assembly on Jan. 30.

Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division detained the suspects during a midnight raid in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad, dubbed Operation Powder River, the U.S. military said.

The statement did not provide any further details on the operation, which appears to be the latest in a series of anti-insurgency campaigns in the so-called Sunni Triangle in central Iraq. Duluiyah is near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, U.S. troops came under mortar attack Friday. They opened fire, killing one Iraqi and wounding two others, local hospital sources said.

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