|
U.S., Iraqi Forces Launch Massive Hunt
U.S. and Iraqi military forces launched a big operation in Baghdad to weed out insurgents and capture illegal weapons on Wednesday with troops, helicopters and armored vehicles raiding suspected rebel hideouts. The campaign comes a day after gunmen killed two Europeans working on a water project. On Monday, assailants shot to death four American missionaries also working on a water project. The six killings suggest the insurgents are going after civilians as a means of undermining reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The operation launched Wednesday is called "Iron Promise" and is expected to involve thousands of U.S. troops from the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, which has recently arrived in Iraq, and the outgoing Germany-based 1st Armored Division. Scores of Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers are also involved. In the first raid, about 250 troops from the armored divisionâs 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment as well as 250 Iraqi soldiers fanned out across the sprawling 20th Street Market, in the cityâs Al-Bayaa district, which sells everything from vegetables to used car parts. Some of the stores are suspected of supplying weapons to the rebels, said the raidâs commander, Lt. Col. Chuck Williams, 40, from Sterling, V. He said the market assault was just the start of a citywide crackdown on the guerrillas. "There is a lot of pressure everywhere. It is all over town. The big things we are looking for is people moving weapons, IED (improvised explosive device) materials and explosives and ammunition. Our soldiers are looking to deter or discover this activity. We want to shut it off," he said. With helicopters hovering overhead, forces in Bradley fighting vehicles and Humvees circled the market to prevent rebels from escaping the area. Troops then went store to store searching for weapons and guerrilla suspects. Few residents expressed opposition to the search and the mood was relaxed. "There are so many places to run and hide. Thatâs why we have to lock it down. We could easily spend a few days doing this. But we basically just want the bad guys to know that we are still here," said Maj. Gregg Softy, 38, from Hyde Park, N.Y. U.S. officials say they have identified 14 rebel cells across Baghdad and while raids on them in the past few months have disrupted their operations, they are still active. Unidentified assailants fired mortars late Tuesday that smashed into a house in south Baghdad, killing two Iraqi children, local residents said. Mortars on Tuesday night also hit the U.S. Forward Operating Base Falcon, in south Baghdad, home to the troops involved in Wednesdayâs raid on the market. There were no casualties, according to U.S. military officials. A German and a Dutch national were killed in a drive-by shooting near the town of Mussayab, 45 miles south of Baghdad on Tuesday, officials said. Their Iraqi driver and a police officer also were killed, and two police were wounded. Five Americans missionaries were shot in the northern city of Mosul a day earlier, leaving four dead and one wounded. The Virginia-based Southern Baptist International Mission Board identified the dead missionaries as Larry T. Elliott, 60, and Jean Dover Elliott, 58, of Cary, N.C.; Karen Denise Watson, 38, of Bakersfield, Calif.; and David E. McDonnall, 28, of Rowlett, Texas. On Tuesday in Mosul, assailants in a car fired on a police vehicle, killing three officers and wounding a fourth, and separately gunmen killed an Iraqi woman working as a translator for the U.S. military. Mosul was a prime recruiting ground for the officer corps of Saddamâs army, and U.S. military officials have described the city as a hotbed of guerrilla activity. The CIA (news - web sites) and other U.S. intelligence agencies have a unit in the city that is searching for so-called "high value" targets in northern Iraq. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said such attacks were an attempt to divide the 36-nation coalition. Posted by: Jarhead 2004-03-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=28316 |