BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Attack helicopters pumped rockets at gunmen holed up in office towers and apartment blocks Wednesday, as U.S. and Iraqi forces swept through a notorious Sunni insurgent enclave in the heart of Baghdad.
The U.S. military said the fighting around Haifa Street was part of a new offensive launched before dawn to disrupt illegal militias and bring the volatile area at the heart of Baghdad under the control of Iraqi security forces.
The low thud of mortar blasts rocked the capital for hours, and smoke billowed into the sky above Haifa Street, dubbed "Sniper Alley," which U.S. and Iraqi forces have struggled to tame.
It was the second time this month that U.S. and Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents on the commercial and residential street just north of the Green Zone, which is home to the U.S. and British embassies, as well as the Iraqi parliament.
Iraqi officials said the operation was not part of a planned security offensive for the capital, but that it would prepare the way for a more concerted ground effort to clear out and hold troubled neighborhoods.
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"What kind of security plan is this?" asked one terrified resident, who spent the morning cowering in his home near Haifa Street. "They are destroying us, pounding an area less than1 square kilometer with mortars, shells from helicopters and their tanks."
As many as 31 gunmen were killed and 35 detained Wednesday, including numerous foreign fighters, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The U.S. military confirmed only seven arrests.
At least one U.S. soldier was killed in small-arms fire in central Baghdad on Wednesday, the military said, but it did not specify whether the death was related to the Haifa offensive.
The U.S. military also announced the deaths of two Marines in combat Tuesday in Anbar province, west of the capital, bringing the total number of U.S. personnel killed since the start of the Iraq war in 2003 to 3,063, according to the Web siteicasualties.org.
Wednesday's battle took place across the river from the site where a private helicopter crashed Tuesday. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad offered his condolences Wednesday for five killed contractors from Blackwater USA, which provides security to U.S. officials and other clients in Baghdad.
Violence continued Wednesday, with at least 51 Iraqis reported killed in attacks across the country.
