BAGHDAD , Iraq ( CNN ) -- Iraqi police and soldiers on Saturday launched major raids in a once-notorious insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad . Saturday 's raids in Falluja by Iraqi forces were similar to U.S.-led sweeps in the city in 2004 , shown here . A police official in the Anbar province city of Falluja told CNN that a large number of security forces were scouring its Sinaie district for an array of weapons -- machine guns , mortars , rocket-propelled grenades and small arms . The Sinaie area , in Falluja 's southeastern section , is an industrial district with factories , scrap yards and large , abandoned yards . The area used to be a stronghold of the insurgency in Falluja until the militants were driven out in major military operations five years ago . At that time , the U.S.-led offensive was largely in response to the brutal ambush , killing and mutilation of four U.S. security contractors . Their charred bodies were left dangling from a bridge over the Euphrates River in spring 2004 . In November of that year , U.S. and Iraqi forces attacked insurgents in Falluja , killing about 1,200 militants . Eight Iraqi soldiers and 51 U.S. troops , mostly Marines , died in urban combat , according to the Pentagon . About 95 percent of Falluja 's population was displaced . Falluja is about 37 miles , or 60 kilometers , west of Baghdad . After the city was pacified , the United States committed more than $ 200 million to reconstruction projects there , and changes became evident . Small cafes and grocery stores lined the streets once dusty and abandoned . Iraqis in Falluja got back to the rhythms of everyday life : They worked , shopped -- and rebuilt . As fragile security gains took root , American military officials marveled at the resurgent city of several hundred thousand . On Saturday , a police official denied reports that armed groups were trying to re-establish a foothold in the area . The U.S. military said Marines and police in the nearby town of Karma were also participating in a combined cache sweep . Violence has dropped in Iraq , and President Obama 's administration has been gearing up to withdraw U.S. troops . The U.S. military continues to be on guard for flare-ups in violence and insurgent activity . The vast and predominantly Sunni Arab Anbar province was a battleground between the U.S. military and al Qaeda in Iraq during the earlier years of the Iraq war . But the insurgents eventually lost ground when a grass-roots movement called `` the awakening '' emerged . The tribe-based awakening forces rejected al Qaeda in Iraq and turned their allegiances toward the U.S. and Iraqi government . While the awakening does n't have clout in Falluja , there are pockets of support just outside the city , as well as in the rest of the province . Al Qaeda in Iraq 's strongest presence in the country is now in the Mosul area , in Nineveh province , north of Baghdad .
Iraqi police : says security forces were scouring the district of Falluja . U.S. military : Baghdad and area police participated in combined cache search . Anbar province is vast and violent because of U.S. and al Qaeda in combat zones .