Good News From Iraq

Release A060518b
Iraqi Police and Coalition Soldiers stop terrorists
TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Police and Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers killed three terrorists and wounded 10 others in two separate incidents in Mosul , May 17.

Soldiers from 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team watched as a group of insurgents began burying an improvised explosive device on a roadway southwest of the city. The troops carefully tracked the movements of each insurgent before engaging them with small arms fire. The terrorists loaded into waiting vehicles and fled the area.

Iraqi Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division and Coalition forces searched a local hospital for the injured men. Nine insurgents with gun shot wounds from the engagement were identified.

All nine of the men were treated by doctors at the hospital and then detained. One civilian was also wounded and treated at a local civilian hospital.

In the second incident, three civilians were attacked by terrorists on a highway outside of Mosul shortly after noon. The terrorists, in two separate cars, chased the civilians' vehicle and fired into it several times.

172nd Soldiers responded to the gunfire and killed all three terrorists in one of the cars. The Iraqi Police pursued the remaining car until it stopped and the four terrorists fled on foot. The IP captured one man who was wounded as he attempted to escape.

The terrorists wounded three civilians in the car they attacked. All three were taken to a nearby civilian hospital for treatment.

Release A060518c
Hillah SWAT captures local terrorist cell leader
BALAD, Iraq – An elite Iraqi Police unit captured a local terrorist cell leader during a late afternoon raid south of Baghdad May 16, disrupting terrorist activity in this critical region.

Members of the Hillah SWAT conducted the operation east of Iskandriyah, targeting Salih Hassan Latif al-Janabi, also known as Abu Sabrin.

Al-Janabi, leader of a local terrorist cell, oversees the operations of several other terrorist cells. His cell is responsible for a counterfeit document and money network and for conducting improvised explosive device attacks in the area. He also has ties to other known terrorist leaders.

No one was killed or wounded during this operation.

Release A060518d
Coalition Forces respond to hostile activity in Ramadi
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Coalition Forces engaged several insurgents near an abandoned train station in southeast Ramadi May 16 in response to repeated hostile activity. It was the seventh day since May 7 that Coalition Forces engaged insurgents in the area.

Troops observed several insurgents moving a weapon from the train station to a vehicle nearby. Coalition Forces engaged the insurgents with artillery, killing several insurgents and destroying the weapon. Troops saw one of the insurgents leave the area with the vehicle.

Later in the day, troops observed several more insurgents with weapons taking positions on a rooftop near the train station. Insurgents are known to use the rooftop to conduct sniper attacks. Coalition Forces engaged the building with grenades and an air-delivered munition, killing some of the insurgents.

Troops saw two remaining insurgents flee into another building, and Coalition forces engaged the building with additional air-delivered munitions, killing the remaining insurgents.

Troops later observed insurgents with weapons moving again at the train station. They engaged the insurgents with artillery, killing the insurgents.

Also on May 16, Iraqi Security Forces searched a mosque in Ramadi and Coalition Forces investigated reports of a destroyed Iraqi Police station near Hit.

Iraqi Army Soldiers found 7.62 mm ammunition and a communications device in the northeast Ramadi mosque, which was not damaged during the search.

In Zuwayyah, about 10 kilometers southeast of Hit, Coalition Forces found that an Iraqi Police station's roof had collapsed and three walls inside the building had been destroyed in an unexplained explosion. The damage had been reported during a meeting between troops and local civilians.

There were no reports of Coalition or civilian casualties as a result of these incidents.

Story by Spc. Cassandra Groce, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi army and U.S. Soldiers raided a suspected insurgent training camp during Operation Iron Triangle near Lake Thar Thar, southwest of Tikrit May 9.

Nearly 200 Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and about 230 Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team assaulted the complex from CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters into the suspected camp after intelligence sources identified the location as the Muthana Chemical Complex.

The nearly 60-square mile complex was a chemical production facility that was closed by the United Nations after the fall of the former regime.

“Insurgents were coming here to train, conduct link-up operations, and moving out to attack coalition forces,” said Capt. Andrew Graham, assistant plans and operations officer, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment.

The combined three-day operation netted more than 200 suspected insurgents.

“We have been finding evidence that this place has been used to train insurgents,” Graham said. “We conducted a detailed search, detained suspicious individuals, and (used) the intelligence that we got from them, which resulted in follow-on operations on day two.”

Searches yielded propaganda materials, rifles and videos. Iraqi soldiers also gathered names of potential threats from the detainees nabbed during the operation.

“We have found some smaller caches and have captured more than 10 men who we found to be part of Tahiwed and Jihad [insurgent groups],” said Lt. Col. Musab Josif, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division. “The best thing we had during the mission is good cooperation between the Iraqi and American Soldiers. They worked together as one team.”

The partnership between Iraqi army and Coalition forces was one of the many successes of the mission.

“The Iraqi army is becoming more and more competent in the planning and execution of missions,” Graham said. “They are very capable of doing their own tactical operations and reacting to intelligence.”

Story by Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – When the 2nd Brigade of the 9th Iraqi Mechanized Division assumed nearly 60 square miles of battlespace north of Baghdad May 15, it was more than just a paperwork shuffle.

"From the command and control perspective, they go from reporting to (the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry) to me," 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Commander U.S. Army Col. James Pasquarette said during an interview. "They now report straight into my headquarters, and I report to the 4th (Infantry Division)."

This arrangement is only temporary. In June, the 2nd Brigade's parent unit, the 9th Division, will assume battle space, and the divisions' 1st and 2nd brigades will come under its operational control. This division's commander will then report directly to the commander of Multi-National Division Baghdad.

The U.S. 4th Infantry Division and the Iraqi 9th Division still will be intermingled until the American units redeploy, officials said. Pasquarette said his unit will continue to provide augmentation for military transition teams. "That's how they get the enablers (to the Iraqis)," he said. "If they need close-air support, attack helicopters, (explosive ordnance disposal), dog teams, those are the ones who integrate them into (the Iraqi) operations."

Pasquarette's unit also will continue partnership with the Iraqis, "but it won't be to the level it is right now."

When 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry lead the operations, the unit had three company-sized cavalry troop units operating in the area. "We're drawing that down to one troop, and (the Iraqis) are going to pick up more of the tasks in that area," he said.

The one remaining troop will continue to train with the Iraqis and conduct combined operations. The American training teams and the cavalry unit will ensure the Iraqis do not fail, Pasquarette said. But the Iraqis will have more latitude to make their decisions and will receive more responsibilities as the year goes on. The 2nd Brigade is receiving more tasks that Americans were doing, and the process of turning over these tasks continues, he said.

The colonel said this will be an evolutionary process. By the time the U.S. brigade leaves, the area around Taji may be under full control of the 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Division, with no partnership units intermingled.

Pasquarette said the changeover should "make the Iraqis uncomfortable" -- meaning they should feel stretched by the responsibility.

"If they are comfortable, it probably means that we are not giving them enough to do," he said. "We'll help them work smarter and help them with planning. We will not let them fail as they figure out the 'troop-to-task process' that is the crux of the situation," he said.

Like American leaders, the Iraqi commanders must look at the totality of their area of operations. They must decide where they can take risks and where they must be "risk-averse," Pasquarette said.

The Iraqi 2nd Brigade in particular and the 9th Division in general should do very well, he said. "They are very, very professional," he said. "I think the 9th Division has an incredibly bright future once they are through the training gates."

He said the division needs to work on manning, and there is a proposal to recruit locally. Pasquarette said 2,000 enlistment packets from Tarmiyah alone are awaiting approval in Baghdad. "We think this will be good for the demographics of the division," he said. "It's about 70 percent Shiia now; the influx of Sunnis will bring it to 50-50."

Tags:
Iraq
MNF Iraq
Al Qaeda
War on Terror
Iraqi Army
101st Fighting Keyboardists

.