US warplanes and armoured vehicles pounded suspected guerrilla hideouts in former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's hometown on today after six soldiers died in the shooting down of a Black Hawk helicopter.
The US Army said the offensive in Tikrit - which included the first use of warplanes dropping bombs since major combat was declared over on May 1st - was a "show of force" designed to destroy possible hiding places for insurgents.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a news conference in Baghdad that Iraq was still a "war zone".
"We are involved in an insurgency, and that's pretty close to war," Mr Armitage said.
In a new attack by insurgents in the volatile town of Falluja, west of Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed and one wounded when a roadside bomb was detonated near their convoy.
Meanwhile, the US military said it had captured one of Saddam's former bodyguards near Kirkuk and troops captured 12 people suspected of involvement in a deadly attack on a Baghdad hotel where US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying.
Since May 1st, 149 US soldiers have been killed in action, including the six killed in yesterday's downing of the Black Hawk.
After dark yesterday, F-16 fighter-bombers swooped over Tikrit, dropping 500-pound bombs near the crash site. Then raids were launched around the town - a hotbed of anti-US attacks.
Troops backed by armour and attack helicopters destroyed several abandoned houses which the US military believed had been used by insurgents.
A US Army statement said the raids were part of "Operation Ivy Cyclone", a new drive to root out suspected guerrillas around Tikrit. It said 16 people had been detained in the past 24 hours as part of the operation, and five killed.