insurgents Saturday and Sunday as they worked their way through the
remaining portions of Diyala province's Balad Ruz district and prepared
to settle down in the area.
Five battalions embarked on Operation Saber Pursuit on Saturday in order
to clear al-Qaida cells from the southern Balad Ruz district. It is the
Iraqi government's latest push to clear insurgent strongholds. But enemy
fighters already knew about it because government leaders, including the
prime minister, announced it beforehand.
Second Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment - one of two American
battalions in the operation - and its Iraqi army partner have so far
detained seven suspected insurgents, said Capt. Matthew Shown, the
squadron's intelligence officer. Only one of those was on the Americans'
blacklist. All have been turned over to the Iraqi army.
Soldiers set fire to reeds clogging local canals to help them spot cache
sites more easily. In at least one case, flames ignited a hidden
anti-tank mine or roadside bomb and surprised soldiers taking a break
nearby. But soldiers have so far found few hidden weapons.
Capt. Patrick Collins, 2/3's battle captain, said they've uncovered four
anti-tank mines, 10 mortars, two rockets, a rocket-propelled grenade and
a roadside bomb in addition to other miscellaneous equipment. Units have
also come across several cache sites that appeared to have been recently
emptied, another sign that insurgents had prior knowledge of the
operation.
The virtual absence of enemy fighters has made casualties nonexistent.
Three coalition vehicles hit anti-tank mines, according to Collins.
Shown said no one in the squadron has suffered injuries more severe than
a concussion. There have been no firefights.
Heat turned out to be a bigger enemy than al-Qaida. At least one Iraqi
army soldier suffered from severe heat injuries. Some American soldiers
needed IVs but were able to continue with the mission.
Second Brigade, 1st Armored Division had a similar experience coming
into the area from the south, Collins said. They found few insurgents
and few weapons caches, although soldiers did discover that one home was
rigged to explode after staying in it for several hours.
The brigade also encountered more roadside bombs on the section of a
main thoroughfare it had to clear. The bombs delayed units trying to
reach a village where soldiers were flown in by helicopter. American
soldiers hadn't ventured into that area in at least eight months.
"They had it pretty bad," Collins said.
Leaders are now gearing up for the second, perhaps more important, phase
of the operation: Holding the area. Iraqi army soldiers will be
stationed near the places they've cleared to keep enemy fighters from
returning.
Workers have already begun expanding Turki Patrol Base in the south to
handle the extra soldiers, Shown said. In the next week or so, the units
will begin building several Iraqi Police checkpoints. Iraqi army
soldiers will initially man the checkpoints until Iraqi Police can be
recruited.
Residents who stayed behind have so far been reluctant to help coalition
forces, which Shown said may be because the soldiers left the area
immediately after previous operations.
The excuses the villagers made for the almost complete absence of men in
the villagers both amused and frustrated Americans searching the homes.
Yet Shown said he expects residents to provide more tips on enemy fights
and weapons caches when they see the Iraqi army is here for good.
"Once we get the IA [Iraqi army] established there - probably there for
a long time - they'll start talking to us some more," he said.
BMPs and other Iraqi armored vehicles not seen before the operation also
now guard the main routes around the area. Unlike American armor,
though, these Soviet-era vehicles have limited logistics support and are
mostly restricted to stationary observation points. They had to be
driven into the area by tractor-trailers prior to the operation.
The Iraqi army had similar mixed success in the eyes of American
soldiers. The "jundees," as low-level Iraqi army soldiers are called,
moved into villages with vigor the first day. Other Iraqi army soldiers
are scouting areas in the northern part of the district, including some
who did so by a seven-kilometer forced march.
On the second day, though, Fox Troop soldiers had to prod Iraqi army
soldiers to clear homes. The Americans grumbled throughout the day that
the Iraqis weren't doing enough to secure their own country after
frequently encountering them sitting in the shade while the Americans
searched the houses by themselves.
Incredibly rough conditions added to the American soldiers'
difficulties.
The soldiers had to live on the dusty cement floors of occupied Iraqi
buildings. Temperatures soared into the 120s during the operation.
Roadside bombs and logistics difficulties restricted water supplies
during the first day of the operation.
Bags of ice sparked a minor celebration when a logistics convoy
delivered that small comfort to Fox Troop soldiers staying in a ghost
town where al-Qaida had earlier massacred all the residents.
Despite the discomfort, the Joes overcame the jundees and malaise and
continued plugging away, even conducting night patrols after a hard day
walking in the hot sun. They will work their way through a couple more
objectives before concluding the first phase of the operation.
"No matter what situation these guys are in, morale is still high, and
we will get the job done," said Spc. Hiram Elizondo, a Fox Troop
soldier.
James Warden
Stars and Stripes
July 28, 2008
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