| U.S. General Cites Steady Progress in Baghdad, Basra, Mosul |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | |
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BAGHDAD — Iraqi and U.S. forces are making progress while performing counterinsurgency and reconstruction missions across Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said May 14. Iraqi and coalition forces continue to make gains in establishing security and enforcing the rule of law in Baghdad, Mosul and Basra over the past week, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multi-National Force - Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. In Basra, Iraqi forces involved in an operation dubbed “Sawlat al Fursan,” or “Charge of the Knights,” are busily removing illegal weapons, fighting and arresting insurgents and other criminals and providing assistance to local citizens. |
“The Iraqi security forces are maintaining a strong presence” in Basra, Bergner reported, noting Iraqi soldiers and police are setting up security stations throughout the city and chasing down insurgents.
About 3,000 Basra residents are involved in cleanup operations as part of a nearly $60 million program designed to improve the city’s health care system, municipal services, electricity provision capability, public communications and youth services, Bergner said.
Iraqi soldiers and coalition troops recently provided medical services to residents of Basra’s Qibla district, Bergner reported. And, at the Umm Qasr port, Iraqi sailors increased water-borne patrols by 20 percent, he added.
In Baghdad, Operation Enforcing the Law, or “Fardh al-Qanoon” in Arabic, continues onward, Bergner said, with Iraqi and coalition forces working in tandem with residents to increase security, restore essential services such as water, sewage and electricity, open businesses, build schools, and repair streets and dwellings.
A recent economic seminar held in Baghdad’s Hurriya sector drew more than 150 local businesses, Bergner said. Members of the neighborhood council told budding entrepreneurs how to obtain micro-loans to start up businesses, he said.
A Baghdad-based school for gifted students was reopened after being closed for seven months, Bergner said, and a new public works substation was opened in the Ghazaliyah district. The substation will provide four more sewage-collection trucks, six trash trucks, and other equipment to provide essential services.
However, Baghdad continues to be plagued by insurgent violence, Bergner acknowledged.
“Criminal violence continues to disrupt efforts by the government of Iraq and coalition forces to restore services, encourage business development, and ensure the safety of schools and other municipal activities,” Bergner said.
For example, an Iraqi army detachment in Sadr City was recently attacked by an insurgent’s roadside bomb, the general said.
“These attacks have caused loss of life and considerable hardship for innocent Iraqis, and seeing the attacks stop would be heartening,” Bergner said.
In Mosul, Iraqi forces have launched a new counterinsurgency offensive, Bergner reported.
The initial phase of the Mosul effort “has featured intensified operations by the Iraqi security forces and it is building on the operations that have been under way for the past several weeks,” Bergner explained.
“These Iraqi-planned, Iraqi-led operations have established bases and checkpoints in Mosul,” he continued, “and have featured numerous raids on al-Qaida in Iraq cells that are using indiscriminate violence to intimidate, assassinate and wound innocent people in the city.”
For example, the Iraqi and coalition forces-conducted Operation Lion’s Roar in Mosul has resulted in the detention of some 500 terrorists and criminals, Bergner reported. Scores of enemy weapons caches containing explosives, machine guns, mortars and ammunition, and more have been uncovered across the city, he added.
“Much of the recent progress we have seen in Basra, Baghdad and Mosul is due to the efforts of Iraqi security forces,” Bergner said.
Iraqi police posted in Baghdad’s Kut, Yusufiyah and Radwaniyah districts have embarked on security patrols in recent weeks to uncover corruption and to improve neighborhood security and police station operations, Bergner said.
And recent police and recruiting drives for “Sons of Iraq” citizen security groups across Baghdad have shown Iraqis from all communities volunteering to protect their country, Bergner observed, adding that nearly 500 new Iraqi police officers recently graduated from the Baghdad police academy.
In addition, about 43,000 new Iraqi soldiers completed basic combat training this year, Bergner said. In April, some 700 Iraqi army engineers completed six months of extensive training in electrical and pipeline repair and explosives ordnance disposal, he added.
Several Iraqi military engineering graduates helped to build two floating bridges in Beiji that connect Salahuddin and Kirkuk, Bergner said.
By these accomplishments, Iraqi military forces demonstrated “that they are not only improving security, but they are also providing reconstruction support to help local communities,” Bergner told reporters.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces continue to gain the confidence of the citizens they serve, while “increasing their capacity to hold onto hard-fought gains,” the general said.
| Security, Reconstruction: Maj. Gen. Bergner, Dr. al-Sheikhly, May 14 |
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Dr. Tahseen al-Sheikhly, Civilian Spokesman for Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, and Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, Spokesman for USF-I, discuss services in Baghdad and security and reconstruction operations around Iraq. |
| Iraqi Freedom Minute, May 16 |
 • Shopping for Freezers Near Syrian Border |
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• On Patrol in BaghdadFeature Stories
| Joint Patrol Yields Multiple Caches |
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The first cache contained one 120 mm mortar, one 100 mm anti-aircraft round, 12 rocket-propelled grenade warheads, eight 73 mm rockets and a mortar tripod. All weapons were serviceable and the rockets were still in their plastic containers. |
| Iraqi Army Captures Special Groups Cell Leader in Husayniyah |
| BALAD — The Iraqi Army captured a mid-level Special Groups cell leader in Husayniyah, responsible for coordinating improvised explosive device, rocket and small-arms fire attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces, approximately 30 km north of Baghdad, May 15.
Iraqi Army soldiers conducted the operation to capture the Special Groups cell leader whose cell conducted attacks against the ISF and CF as recent as April 22. These criminals emplaced explosively-formed penetrators and conducted indirect fire attacks against static Coalition force positions. Three additional suspects were detained. |
| Bridge Linking Busayefi to Hawr Rajab Opens |
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Once under the control of insurgents, the communities became isolated; they were also separated from each other by the Mercedes Canal. Thanks to the efforts of Coalition forces, Iraqi Army and citizens tired of violence, the insurgents were driven away. However, the canal still isolated them from one another. |
Checking In
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Iraqi Special Operations Forces detain four suspected terrorists in separate operations (Baghdad and |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Citizen’s tip leads MND-B Soldiers to EFP-making factory in local bakery (New Baghdad) |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | MND-B soldiers keep criminals, munitions off Baghdad streets |
Helping Hands
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | DoD Identifies Army Casualty (Baghdad |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | MND-B Soldiers detain suspected IED emplacer, weapons trafficker (Baghdad) |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Criminals fire mortar round, local market burns down (Baghdad) |
Rotating Troops
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Iranian nationals wounded in car near Baghdad |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Sons of Iraq graduate Iraqi Police training in Hawija |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Joint patrol yields multiple caches in Maderiyah |
Looking Out
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | One terrorist killed, 19 detained in Coalition operations (Khan Bani Sa’ad) |
| Friday, 16 May 2008 | Bridge linking Busayefi to Hawr Rajab opened |
Stumble It!
