Explosions shook pre-dawn Baghdad in the biggest military activity here in weeks, while in Mosul an Iraqi security force member was killed and US soldiers arrested a confidante of fugitive Baath party number two Izzat Ibrahim. Iraq 's Christian minority said they were too afraid to go out for the traditional Chistmas eve mass as they worried about violent crime and the deadly war between US forces and insurgents in the capital. Explosions and loud automatic fire jolted southern Baghdad early Wednesday, at least some of which the military said was part of an ongoing operation called Iron Justice. The fire marked the start of "phase two" of Iron Justice, which a military source described as the operation's "kinetic phase" after soldiers had gathered intelligence on their enemy.

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