Fallujah, IRAQ -- As dawn broke over the southern half of Fallujah, the usual sight of moving cars and rushing people was replaced by tanks, concertina wire, Iraqi soldiers and Marines.In the early hours of April 7, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment kicked off Operation Block Party here.More than 100 Marines, side-by-side with three companies of Iraqi soldiers, cordoned and searched a targeted area of the city.“We built obstacles and established barriers to control traffic around the area being searched,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher F. Robinson, 28-year-old platoon guide for the combat engineers attached to the battalion. When security was in place, the combined force began searching for weapons, contraband and anti-Iraqi forces. Teams of Marines and Iraqi soldiers moved from house to house, thoroughly searching the dwellings, sweeping yards with metal detectors and speaking with the citizens.Despite the inconvenience and strong military presence, the citizens involved were supportive of the joint force. “The people are very cooperative,” said Capt. Sean K. Butler, 36-year-old future operations officer for the battalion, “They want to see the insurgents out of their area, so they’re actively working with us to identify anti-Iraqi forces.”During the 12-hour operation, the combined force captured nine suspected members of anti-Iraqi forces. They also discovered three different weapons caches containing numerous rifles, a medium machine gun, more than 400 rounds of ammunition, rocket propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades, improvised explosive device materials and anti-Coalition propaganda. Although the captured weapons and contraband is considerably less than the amount found in the battalion’s two previous operations, the mission was considered a success.“We got in early and interdicted before anti-Iraqi forces could acquire a great deal of weaponry,” explained Butler, a native of Mt. Shasta, Calif., “We hit two different groups of terrorists with this operation.”Operation Block Party marks the first offensive operation inside the city’s borders since 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment arrived here from Camp Pendleton, Calif. Their previous two operations were conducted in the outlying peninsula. Pushing forward with their goal of disrupting anti-Iraqi forces and stabilizing the city of Fallujah, the battalion will continue to conduct combined-offensive operations with the Iraqi Security Forces.