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Big assault has no contract with insurgents { March 17 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060317-064348-2141rhttp://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060317-064348-2141r
US-Iraqi assault seeks out rural rebels
Francis Curta
AFP
March 17, 2006
DAWR, Iraq -- Under the watchful eye of drone spy planes, joint US-Iraqi patrols on Friday surrounded and entered hamlets near Samarra on the second day of a major operation to root out insurgents in this rural area north of Baghdad.
Some 1,500 helicopter-borne US and Iraqi troops first descended on the flat expanse of dry, agricultural land on Thursday morning in search of suspected militant strongholds as part of Operation Swarmer.
Pentagon officials said that the air assault was the largest since April 2003 when the 101st Airborne Division launched an air assault from Iskandiriya to Mosul, shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq.
On Friday US and Iraqi troops could be seen purposefully moving through fields sown with winter wheat, searching isolated farm buildings that US officials say may harbor scores of insurgents, including foreign fighters linked to Al Qaeda.
While some 48 people were detained and six weapons caches found, no insurgents have yet been encountered, US forces said.
But the deputy governor of Salaheddin province, Abdullah Hussein, suggested that at least one key insurgent leader had been apprehended.
"The rebels in the area are a mix of local nationals and foreign fighters," he said, including Jaish Mohammed. "We have their voices recorded along with their names and pictures."
"There has been no contact with the insurgents," admitted Major John Calahan of the 101st Airborne Division, a unit specialized in helicopter-borne air assaults that spearheaded the sweep.
"The aim of the operation is to dissuade anti-Iraqi forces from taking sanctuary here," he said, adding that 60 helicopters were involved in the operation.
By Friday the number of troops involved had dropped to 900, as Iraqi commandos that took part in the initial phase of the operation returned to Samarra, and 17 of the people detained were released.
US and Iraqi military officials said that the operation would continue for at least another day or two.
The caches discovered contained mortar rounds, rockets, plastic explosives, blasting caps and high-powered cordless telephones used to remote detonate roadside bombs.
They also discovered medical supplies, small arms and documents relating to the insurgency.
"We're clearing every house and every hole out there," said Captain Tim Schumacher of the 29th Cavalry of the 4th Infantry about his battalion participation in the raid so far.
The operation is being carried out in a flat featureless area known as Jalam - a 30 kilometer by 20 kilometer rural area (20 by 13 miles) - containing scattered farm houses and numerous uninhabited structures.
In the aftermath of a whole series of operations in the western Anbar province late last year, many now believe that the focus of the insurgency has moved to the central Salaheddin province.
"After some of the operations that were carried out successfully in the Euphrates Valley, or near the Syrian border, many of these insurgency groups moved to other parts of the country, to Diyala, to Samarra, to some other parts around Baghdad," foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari told CNN on Thursday.
Iraqi General Abdel Jabbar commander of the Iraqi 1st Brigade of the 4th Division involved in the attack said that they were "acting on intelligence generated by the Iraqi ministry of defense and ministry of interior".
Iraqi military sources in February reported a rise in insurgent operations around Salaheddin province and suggested that the hilly area of Hamreen, further northeast of the current operation, could well contain new Al Qaeda cells.
On Thursday Iraq's new parliament, elected three months before, finally met for its inaugural session, but broke up without selecting a speaker due to ongoing wrangling over the shape of the new government.
Talks continued on Friday as the various factions struggled to come up with a formula for a national unity government acceptable to all parties.
Meanwhile, sectarian violence claimed the lives of three Shia pilgrims making their way on foot to the holy city of Karbala, shot dead in Baghdad on Friday.
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