Operation Iron Hammer

Operation Iron Hammer began on 12 November with a series of coordinated US strikes against anti-coalition insurgents in Iraq. Iron Hammer is a joint operation to target enemy operating areas, stop the enemy from staging weapons, and destroy enemy forces conducting mortar attacks against Baghdad. The first night, an AC-130 gunship crew and Army soldiers destroyed a warehouse insurgents had been using as a headquarters. The next day, two F-16 pilots destroyed a building used by terrorists for munitions storage and as a staging area near the Syrian border. Officials said the pilots used two joint direct attack munitions "to limit collateral damage and complete the destruction of the target."