Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit search a house for weapons and munitions while conducting a cordon-and-search mission through the town of Jurf as Sakhr, Iraq, Dec.1. The Marines are from Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. The mission is part of Operation Plymouth Rock, the latest offensive by Iraqi, U.S. and British Forces aimed at rooting out anti-Iraqi elements in northern Babil province. The forces stepped up activity across a wide area south of Baghdad Nov. 23, when the operation kicked off in the town of Jabella, about 50 miles south of the capital. More than 5,000 Iraqi, U.S. and British forces participated in the operation, which netted 204 suspected insurgents before it ended Dec. 1.
