BAGHDAD, June 17: The US army said on Tuesday it had rounded up more than 400 people in an operation against Saddam Hussein loyalists in northern Iraq, but reported two more of its troops killed, as the row over missing weapons of mass destruction continued to plague London and Washington.

US-led coalition forces conducted 69 raids in Operation Desert Scorpion, US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement.

“The purpose of Operation Desert Scorpion, which started June 15, is to prepare the foundation for Iraqis to form a new self-rule government and provide a safe and secure environment to live and work,” it said.

The statement put the total number of detained at more than 400, but said many had since been released.

Those still being held included four people on a local “blacklist”. In Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, and the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk, “coalition forces conducted 36 raids and detained 215 individuals”, an army spokeswoman said.

“In the Baghdad area, coalition forces conducted 11 raids and detained 156 individuals,” she said.

The spokesman called the operation “very successful”, adding that those targeted included criminals, former members of the Baath Party and “terrorists”.

“They are quite prepared to kill and injure Iraqis in their attacks,” the spokesman said, but declined to elaborate whether the extremists had any links with the Al Qaeda group.

The US military also confiscated banned heavy firearms, including rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank rounds, in addition to rifles, pistols and four machine guns.

Desert Scorpion is targeting forces still loyal to the former Iraqi president after the occupation forces came under several hit-and-run attacks in northern and central Iraq.

The Centcom said one US soldier was killed in Baghdad on Monday night during a patrol through the Iraqi capital, and another in an “apparent non-hostile incident” in the Taji area, north of Baghdad.

The latest deaths take to 50 the number of US soldiers killed in attacks or accidents since US invasion of Iraq.—AFP