Security in Iraq is Increasing

[Guest Desert Rat]

As the security situation across Baghdad continues to show signs of significant improvement, Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment “Regulars,” 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, are reaping the benefits from more than three months of concentrated efforts to create a lasting security in the Aamel community, located in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad.

 

In the first three months since assuming its mission in early April, the Soldiers from the 22nd Inf. Regt. have detained 56 criminals and terrorists, to include 17 of Baghdad’s most wanted individuals, and seized approximately 26 weapons caches comprised of automatic rifles, rocketpropelled

grenades, improvised explosive devices and mortar rounds.

 

Since July, the company has captured neither criminal, terrorist, nor weapon, but not from lack of trying, said Capt. Drew Conover, commander, Company A, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.

[Guest North PAO]

This is also true in Salah ad Din. The Province has seen more than 1,100 former fighters reconcile since May. Musalahah, meaning reconciliation in Arabic, is a combined effort between the Qadah level Government of Iraq, the leadership of the Iraqi Police, the 4th Iraqi Army Division and the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

 

By turning themselves into the Joint Coordination Centers across the province, Iraqis are seeking to clear their names. Men who are thought to have committed crimes are given a court date, so they can plead their cases before an Iraqi judge.

 

The city of Balad and its outlying areas, once wracked by violence, has seen nearly 700 men reconcile with the Iraqi government.

 

“Former fighters in the Balad Qadah have stepped forward to reconcile with their fellow countrymen, and 76 of them have been given court dates to appear before an Iraqi judge,” said Lt. Col. Bob McCarthy, a 32nd Cavalry Regiment squadron commander. “This is a key step in reestablishing their ties to the communities, rejoining their families in their homes and becoming active participants in Iraq’s future.”

 

As a result of the mass reconciliation in the Balad area, McCarthy’s Soldiers, along with Iraqi Army Soldiers and Police, have been led to multiple weapons caches by those who have reconciled.

 

As in Balad, the provincial capital of Tikrit and the Sunni dominated enclave of ad Dwar, has had similar success with the reconciliation process.

 

More than 400 men have reconciled in the area.

 

Over the last few days, the number of Iraqis wishing to reconcile has doubled in the restive city of Bayji.

 

“The people of Salah ad Din have seen the worst that al-Qaeda has to offer and have rejected criminal wholesale,” said Lt. Col. John King, 1st BCT deputy commander. “The provincial leadership is serious about rebuilding the province and the country

[Guest Desert Rat]

The 33rd Iraqi Army confiscated more than 4,000 pounds of homemade explosives made of fertilizer and diesel fuel from a farm near Karbala July 22. Four men were detained and taken to the Karbala Police Directorate for questioning.

[Guest North PAO]

Coalition forces captured two wanted men and detained two additional suspects during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq’s financial infrastructure around Baghdad July 22-23.

An alleged AQI financier was detained with one additional suspect during an operation near Samarra, 110 kilometers north of Baghdad. The man is assessed to be involved with known terrorists, including one killed during an operation May 6.

 

Wednesday, Coalition forces captured a suspected member of a kidnapping cell during a precision operation in Baghdad. Another man was detained in the city for his alleged ties to AQI leaders in Iraq and other countries.

 

“By targeting these networks, Iraqi and Coalition forces are continuing to chip away at AQI’s ability to conduct acts of indiscriminate violence or to impose an extremist ideology upon the people of Iraq,” said Cmdr. Scott Rye, MNF-I spokesman.