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WASHINGTON D.C. (February 11, 2008) - A surge in military
operations and a shift in local support in northern Iraq has driven
many al Qaeda fighters out of cities that once provided them safe
haven and into the desert, or even out of the country, a commander
in the region said today.
Citizens in the four-province region of Multinational Division
North have begun shifting their support to coalition and Iraqi
forces in "droves," and security gains are increasingly putting
extremists on the run with no clear place to go to be safe, said
Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multinational
Division North and the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division. The
northern division is about the size of Pennsylvania and includes
Diyala, Salahuddin, Ninevah and Tamim provinces.
Some foreign fighters are returning to their home countries of
Syria and Saudi Arabia, he said, taking with them funds earmarked
for fighters in Iraq. Some are trying to reorganize outside the
country's borders, but Hertling's troops are watching the border
and have arrested some as they try to return, he said.
Others, who no longer feel safe in the cities because they are
afraid that local citizens will turn them in, are hiding out in
abandoned mud huts, canals or caves in the desert.
"That's their biggest fear. So many of them are going to the
desert regions to just get away from being ratted out by the
citizens by being pointed out and captured," Hertling said.
But, even their desert hideaways are targets under six-week-long
Operation Iron Harvest, part of the countrywide Operation Phantom
Phoenix.
"Some of them are saying it's not even safe in the desert
because the night raids are coming to get them," Hertling said.
"And that's a good thing. We want them to keep thinking that they
can't sleep well at night because we're coming after them, because,
quite frankly, we are."
Hertling could not give specific numbers on how many fighters
have left or an estimate of the size of the enemy force remains in
the region, but he said fewer al Qaeda fighters are in the province
now than six weeks ago.
"We're doing exactly what we're trying to do, and that is make
the cities safer for the Iraqi citizens while continuing to target
al Qaeda and the other extremist groups," the commander said.
Diyala province, specifically, is much safer today than it was a
month ago, Hertling said. Citizens are less afraid to go out on the
streets, and markets are opening, he said.
Hurtling attributed the gains in the province to the
capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the installation of
local bases in the province, and improving local and national
governments.
In Iron Harvest operations over the past 45 days, coalition and
Iraqi security forces there have conducted 74 missions. They have
captured or killed more than 70 high-value individuals, and
"hundreds" of enemy fighters, the general said. They found more
than 430 caches with tons of explosives and weapons, he added, and
they have cleared 653 homemade bombs, 42 house bombs, 35 car bombs
and three bomb factories.
Attacks have leveled off in the region since December, following
a drastic drop. Attacks range from about 20 to 50 daily, Hertling
said.
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