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WASHINGTON D.C. (January 22, 2008) - The tables have turned for
al Qaeda in northern Iraq, as a surge of operations there in the
new year has put terrorists on the run looking for new places to
hide, a commander in the region said today.
Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of Multinational
Division North, briefed Pentagon reporters today from Iraq.
Operation Iron Harvest, part of the larger countrywide Operation
Phantom Phoenix launched just before Christmas, has pounded parts
of four northern provinces that have, for the most part, afforded
the group safe haven, Hertling said. The operation's main effort
has been in Diyala, specifically the area called the "breadbasket,"
near Muqdadiyah, in eastern Diyala province, although it includes
Multinational Division North's other provinces of Salahuddin,
Ninevah, and Tamim.
Early intelligence reports say al Qaeda operatives are still
looking for a place to hide, the general said. "And that's what
we're attempting to do," he added.
"A year ago, we were often reacting to al Qaeda and what they
were going to do," Hertling said. "Now, I think the tables have
turned a little bit, and they are attempting to react to where
we're going to go next. And that's a critical difference."
Tired of al Qaeda's torturous reign of terror in the region,
local citizens are turning over weapons caches, hideouts, names and
even drawing maps to where terrorists still hiding in the area
could be found, Hertling said.
"They are trying to get away or find new safe havens. And every
time they think they have them, we attack there," Hertling
said.
In 40 operations, many alongside the Iraqi security forces in
the region, coalition forces have captured or killed 40 terrorists
marked as "high-value individuals" by military officials. Forces
killed another 130 enemy fighters, and nearly 374 have been
detained.
Forces have cleared 386 roadside bombs, 28 car bombs and 38
house bombs. They have uncovered 127 weapons cache sites storing
2,100 rockets and mortars, 6,900 pounds of military-grade
explosives and 30,000 pounds of homemade explosives, and they've
destroyed a couple of bomb-making factories. Fifteen coalition
force soldiers have died in the operations, Hertling said.
During the operations, coalition forces found a torture chamber
and rescued two civilians still alive there. The two said 11 were
being held there the day before. They had been held and tortured
for nearly two weeks for working as contractors and running new
electric power lines to the area, Hertling said.
The commander said that the insurgents would use torture to
terrorize local citizens into allowing them free rein.
Terrorists would behead local citizens and carry the heads down
the streets of town as part of what Hertling called their "very
brutal and violent tactics."
"And what you would see as a result of that is (that) people
were afraid to either go to the police or stand up against these
people," the general said. "If you don't have weapons or you don't
have security forces to counter that kind of action, it's kind of
difficult to push back against these violent and barbarous
criminals."
Hertling said al Qaeda's heavy activity in the area for the past
several months has damaged not only the infrastructure, but also
the people's psyche. Now, though, stores are reopening and people
are starting to go out into the towns.
"We are all seeing the hope on the faces of the Iraqis as they
see a more secure future in some of these towns we have not been to
recently," Hertling said.
Operations north of Baghdad previously had used more of an
"economy of force" approach, Hertling said. Security in the region
was difficult to maintain because of a limited number of both
coalition and Iraqi security forces operating there. After
coalition forces would clear an area and move on, al Qaeda would
simply come back and reoccupy it. But now, four divisions of Iraq
forces operate there, and the country's forces are growing in both
numbers and capabilities, Hertling said. These additional forces
will help hold the recent gains in security.
"Where we can't be, they can be," the commander said of the
Iraqi forces. "It's continuing to improve the situation on the
ground in all the communities."
About 15,000 local people have signed up as concerned local
citizens under a program that allows them to assist with the
security effort. Of those, about 2,000 want to transition into the
permanent Iraqi security forces, Hertling said. As long as they
pass the screening process, all should be able to join, he said.
Most want to join the local police.
Coalition forces also are building joint security stations in
the towns.
"As things begin to develop and we get more and more into the
'hold' and the eventual 'build' stage, coalition forces will begin
to leave," the general said. "As the Iraqi police stand up more and
more capability, the Iraqi army will begin to leave and the police
will be left, along with local citizens, in securing the inside of
town."
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