BAGHDAD, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces clashed with gunmen in central Baghdad on Tuesday, coming under fire from mortars and rocket-propelled grenades during raids in an area the U.S. military said was a hotbed of insurgent activity. Battling growing sectarian violence, Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki announced a major security plan for Baghdad on Saturday, vowing to crack down on violence on all sides. "This area has been subject to insurgent activity which has repeatedly disrupted Iraqi Security Force operations in central Baghdad," U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bleichwehl said in a statement announcing the operation around Haifa Street. It said Iraqi and U.S. forces started a joint operation early on Tuesday aimed at capturing suspected insurgents and restoring Iraqi security forces' control over the area. "Joint forces reported receiving small arms fire, rocket- propelled grenade and indirect fire attacks during the operation," it said, adding that three people had been detained and the operation was still in progress. Haifa Street in central Baghdad has long been a stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency. On Saturday police found the bodies of 27 people thought to be Shi'ites who had been shot there. The Defence Ministry said on Monday it then launched a two-day operation in the area, killing nearly 60 people on Saturday and Sunday. It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between that operation and the one launched on Tuesday.
