Officials said the U.S. and Iraqi militaries would conduct major
operations against Al Qaida throughout the north. They cited Operation
Phantom Phoenix, meant to expel Al Qaida cells from northern Iraqi villages, Middle East Newsline reported.
On Sunday, Iraq Army troops arrived in Mosul for a major operation
against Al Qaida. Officials said about 3,000 troops, backed by U.S. Army
attack helicopters and main battle tanks, would participate in the
offensive.
"The operations against Al Qaida in Mosul will start soon," Iraqi
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al Askari said.
"Regarding Mosul, an area we recognize is of strategic importance to Al
Qaida, our operations will continue in that area again — not in a new way
but in a continued way," Smith told a news conference on Sunday.
Mosul, regarded as a hub of the Sunni insurgency, has been a key target
of Al Qaida. Officials said Al Qaida fighters have been streaming to Mosul
from launching areas in Syria in an operation believed to have been financed
by the son of Libyan ruler Moammar Khaddafy. The U.S. military has not
confirmed the Iraqi assertion.
"The operation up north to chase out and finally eliminate, if possible,
Al Qaida has been in our third week," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. "And with that is going to come some
levels of increased violence."
In 2007, officials said, Al Qaida was expelled from every major Iraqi
city with the exception of Mosul. They said the U.S. military, focusing its
efforts on Baghdad, has been unable to contribute a large number of troops
for the operation in Mosul.
"We are aggressively going after what we hope is the last area in Iraq
where Al Qaida is very active and has caches of weapons and substantial
numbers of people," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. "So we're
engaged in a fairly major offensive, the first one in, at least, weeks, and
so you're seeing a lot more activity in that regard."
Officials said the U.S. military has sought to block Al Qaida finances
and communications to Iraq. They said all of Al Qaida's senior echelon in
Iraq consisted of foreigners, financed through abductions, extortion and
other crime.
"There are no really senior Iraqis that have a position of significant
authority in terms of the major inner-circle players," Smith said. "The
finances are a critical component of insurgency, and that's one thread of
the insurgency you're going to take on."
