BAGHDAD — Iraq has been assigned the command of all of its army
divisions in the north.
U.S. officials said the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al
Maliki has agreed to command all four Iraq Army divisions that operate in
the north. They said the transfer of responsibility would take place over
the next few weeks.
"By February, all four Iraqi divisions in Multinational Division North
will be under Iraqi ground-force command," Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon,
commander of Multinational Division North, said.
Multinational Division North covers six Iraqi provinces in northern Iraq
that include the cities of Balad, Kirkuk, Mosul, Samara and Tikrit, Middle East Newsline reported. Two Iraq
Army divisions have already been transferred to government control, the
latest one on Dec. 1.
"We have a goal for this transition, and we are making advances every
day," Mixon told a Pentagon briefing on Dec. 1. "A third division will
transfer by the end of January, and by February, all four Iraqi divisions in
Multinational Division North will be under Iraqi ground-force command."
The most problematic of the provinces was Diyala, officials said. They
said Diyala contained a large presence of Al Qaida and has become a
battleground for Sunni and Shi'ite militias.
Mixon said 35 out of 40 Iraq Army battalions in Multinational Division
North were participating in counter-insurgency operations. He said the
U.S.-led coalition was providing minimal support.
Officials said northern Iraq could mark the first stage of a reduction
in U.S. military forces. But they said the military would also increase the
number of embedded trainers in Iraq Army and police units.
"We intend to enlarge the size of our mobile [Iraq Army] training teams
and also our police training teams, and also the teams that we have working
with the border security forces along the Syria and Iranian border," Mixon
said. "We will stand by them throughout this transition period."
