AP embed pictures of US troops conducting security operations in Baghdad

US soldiers in Iraq have been carrying out searches in Baghdad neighbourhoods on Wednesday as part of the latest security plan to try to stop sectarian violence in the capital.
Troops of the 9th Iraqi Army Division, 82nd Airborne and Armoured units of the 2nd Battalion 3rd Infantry Regiment are involved in the operation.
A team from AP Television has been embedded with Alpha Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Infantry Regiment and filmed an operation on Wednesday.
Soldiers can be seen going house to house looking for bomb-making facilities and arms caches and talking to local residents in an effort to stop insurgency.
The operation was preparation ahead of ground troop deployment into the regional districts.
Soldiers were filmed as they were deployed in the early hours of the morning, taking up positions around the districts of Shaab-ur and most recently Beida.
Beida is across a main road adjacent to Sadr City.
On Tuesday, an American military spokesman, Major General William Caldwell, told a news conference that US and Iraqi forces were focusing on areas of extremist activity in Baghdad and suggested talks were ongoing over when and how to move into Sadr City.
Soldiers were filmed shooting at locks to gain entry to buildings and forcing entry to properties with a battering ram.
AP Television's team, embedded with the troops, reported that the military spoke to local residents as part of their house to house searches in an attempt to gain intelligence to assist them in the future containment and security of this district.
According to information from the US military involved in the searches in Baghdad, seven out of 10 homes have been found to contain weapons ranging from AK47 automatic assault rifles, SKS semi automatic rifles with bayonets and a variety of pistols.
The troops, they said, unload these weapons and leave them within the household when they leave.
Households in Iraq are legally allowed to hold a fully automatic assault weapon which can shoot at targets up to 450m away.
Some said a shotgun would be a more acceptable measure for personal security in the home.

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