Faced with daily attacks on their soldiers, the US military announced its latest offensive Sunday as it carried out more than 20 raids in central Iraq, the bedrock of support for the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.

Desert Sidewinder, as US authorities have dubbed it, comes on the heels of Operation Desert Scorpion launched on June 15 to root out the guerrilla fighters who have now killed 23 US soldiers since US President George W. Bush declared victory in the Iraq war May 1.

So far, Desert Sidewinder, being carried out by the 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse, has netted more than 60 suspects in the raids along with weapons and military documents believed to relate to the former regime, the US military said in a statement.

"The raids target former Baath Party loyalists, terrorists suspected of perpetrating attacks against US forces and former Iraqi military leaders, and to locate weapons and ammunition caches," the statement said.

The US forces believe Saddam loyalists are conducting a campaign of sabotage, blowing up fuel pipelines and stripping power cables, to turn the tide against the Americans.

The raids unfolded around Samarra, which lies between the capital and Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, a stronghold of Sunni Muslims, many of whom feel threatened by the growing clout of the country's Shiite majority in post-war Iraq.