BAGHDAD, July 22 (AFP) - A dawn raid Thursday in a violent part of Baghdad netted about 20 Arabs, mostly from Syria, suspected of links with terror attacks in Iraq, the interior ministry said, as locals brace for violent repercussions.
Hundreds of Iraqi police and national guards, backed up by US forces, took part in the operation which ran from 3:00 am (2300 GMT Wednesday), said interior ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdul Rahman.
"Security forces arrested about 20 Arabs, most of them from Syria," a second official from the interior ministry said, on condition of anonymity.
The arrests were made "thanks to information that reached the ministry indicating that these Arabs were supporting terrorists who plan to carry out attacks in Iraq," the official told AFP.
Residents on Haifa street in central Baghdad where the sweep took place spoke of being jolted awake by a loud explosion at about 4:30 am, followed by bursts of gunfire long into the morning.
Surrounding streets were sealed off by Iraqi security forces and by US troops, while US helicopters kept watch overhead.
"We woke up at 4:30 am when there was a big explosion," said Anaam Mahmud, 25, who lives on the sixth floor of one of the high rise apartment blocks that frame the district that is pitted with a network of rundown alleys.
"I rushed to our balcony to see what was happening," she said.
"I saw US tanks on the street and lines of police and Iraqi National Guard vehicles," recalled Mahmud, a newly graduated student.
"They arrested many people in the Rhamaniya neighbourhood, which is a known place of resistance," she added.
A second local described hearing a loud explosion just after four in the morning but said he was too frightened to have a proper look outdoors.
"I was scared to open the window as I thought a bullet might fly in," said Mohammed Jassim, 45, a financial officer.
"I heard shooting and explosions. My three children were petrified," he said.
"The raid seemed bigger than previous ones. Also this time there were much more Iraqi security forces on the streets than Americans. Before it was always the other way around."
Anxious to prove his unelected government has teeth, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has preached a hard line against criminals, unveiling a security law that gives him powers of arrest and to impose curfews that have yet to be used.
He is also expected to unveil an amnesty for low-level criminals who opposed the US-led occupation, hoping to unite the country against a wave of attacks that have claimed thousands of Iraqi lives since last year's invasion.
Since gaining power on June 28, the interim Iraqi government has increased the number of police and other security forces on the streets, erected more checkpoints, carried out numerous arrests and seized stockpiles of weapons.
On July 12, Iraqi police pulled off their largest haul since the US-led invasion, netting more than 525 suspected murderers, kidnappers and thieves.
But Mahmud, who lives with her sister and mother, was sceptical that the latest raid on Haifa street would end the daily chorus of blasts and gunfire.
"This will only bring more violence. The resistance is not going to sit at home tonight they will react," she said.
Her sister, Wahada, a 28-year-old veterinary surgeon, said the insecurity only flared up in the past month and she doubted it would improve.
"I was supposed to be at work at 8:30 am but I am already two hours late as I am too scared to step outside."
Haifa street, known by many as "death street", is home to professionals and in some cases Arab migrants loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein.