"The officers should learn to find the information about terrorists
before they put their suicide belt on," Iraqi Col. Saeb Ahmed said.
[On Feb. 18, at least 12 people were killed in a suicide bombing in
Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province. Officials said a suicide bomber
blew himself up outside the offices of the provincial government.]
During the two-day exercise, army and police units participated in a
simulation of a mass-casualty suicide strike attempt in Baghdad. The
security forces were also tested in a scenario that called for the bombing
of bridges in the Iraqi capital.
The exercise was directed from a command facility at the Taji air force
base 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. Officials said the U.S. military
drafted the scenarios for Iraqi security planners.
"There is a need for extremely detailed intelligence," Ahmed said.
The exercise has been part of expanded security operations in major
Iraqi cities, particularly Baghdad. Officials said a range of Al Qaida cells
have been targeted, including those responsible for bomb assembly,
assassinations and bank robberies.
"The joint security operations conducted in Baghdad are part of a
pre-election security plan to disrupt terrorist networks attempting to
derail elections and destabilize Iraq," the U.S. military said on Feb. 18.