Iraq: Here come the bombs - we're searching for Zarqawi

yahoo/reuters:US says ready for new strikes against Iraq towns

U.S. forces are ready to launch air strikes on towns in western Iraq as they search for Iraq's al Qaeda leader, who has declared war on the nation's Shi'ite Muslims in response to the Iraqi-U.S. offensive in Tal Afar.

U.S. army spokesman Major General Rick Lynch told a news briefing on Thursday that al Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was behind a series of suicide bombs and car bombs in Baghdad on Wednesday and Thursday which killed and wounded hundreds.

"We've got great intelligence which tells us where he (Zarqawi) is moving to and where he's trying to establish safe havens. People focus on the Euphrates river valley because that's where we believe he's coming through," Lynch said.

"Towns close to the Euphrates river valley, including Qaim and Haditha, are towns that we focus on. And as soon as we see him trying to establish a safe haven there, we will conduct operations just like we did in Tal Afar," he added. Read more