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50,000 Iraqi troops in Diyala operation
BAGHDAD - Nearly 50,000 Iraqi police and soldiers were involved in a U.S.-backed operation against al-Qaida in Iraq in one of its last major strongholds near the capital, a senior provincial official said Wednesday. The house-to-house search operations now focused on the Diyala provincial capital of Baquoba will be extended to rugged areas near the Iranian border, said Ibrahim Bajilan, the head of the regional council. The crackdown will take about two weeks "and then law will be imposed in all Diyala," Bajilan said by telephone, providing new details about the operation that began Tuesday. The Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, said that 35 "wanted insurgents" have been apprehended so far and a number of weapons seized.Diyala has been one of the hardest provinces to control despite numerous military operations. Baquoba has enjoyed security improvements recently but continues to see attacks, such as twin suicide bombings that killed at least 28 people on July 15 and a number of suicide attacks carried out by female bombers. "We are not fighting an organized army but we are fighting terrorist groups hiding either in palm tree orchards or among civilians," al-Askari said, adding that the rugged nature of the big province further complicates the anti-insurgent effort. The operations were primarily carried out by Iraqi security forces in the latest display of Iraq's readiness to take over its own security and enable American troops to eventually withdraw. The U.S. military was providing intelligence, fire support and logistics as Iraqi forces gradually assumed front-line roles, a factor that contributed to sharp decrease in the number of U.S. troop deaths this year. Posted by: tu3031 2008-07-30 |
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