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U.S., Iraq mopping up insurgents on Euphrates near Syria

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, January 23, 2006

BAGHDAD — Iraqi and U.S. troops have launched a major counter-insurgency operation near Syria.

Officials said Operation Koa Canyon has sought to capture or kill Sunni insurgents in the western Euphrates River Valley in the Anbar province. They said the operation, which began on Jan. 15. includes 1,000 U.S. soldiers and 300 Iraqi troops.

The Iraq Army contributed its 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Division to the mission, Middle East Newsline reported. The Iraqi unit has been operating with the U.S. 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Officials said U.S. Marines were working with Iraqi police in the Baghdadi region of Anbar. They said most of the troops were conducting cordon-and-knock operations and searching for weapons and insurgents along the Euphrates River, about 130 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.

The operation was part of a U.S.-led effort to accelerate the handover of security responsibility to the Iraq Army. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has already agreed to replace U.S. troops in the Anbar capital of Ramadi with Iraqi units.

Officials said Jaafari, U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and local tribes reached an agreement on Jan. 15 for a U.S. handover of security responsibility in Ramadi. They said the tribes pledged to help battle Al Qaida and other foreign insurgents in the Ramadi area.

Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi was said to maintain a major presence around Ramadi and other areas of Anbar. Officials said that under the agreement the tribes would be prevented from cooperating with Al Zarqawi fighters.

The Iraqi military and security forces have risen to more than 227,000 troops. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, told a briefing on Thursday that an Iraq Army division, eight brigades and 37 battalions have assumed the lead in operations in their areas.

In contrast, Lynch said, four Iraqi brigades and 11 battalions led operations in June 2005. The general said that by the summer of 2006, 75 percent of Iraq Army brigades would take the lead in operations.

By the fall of 2006, 80 percent of Iraqi divisions would lead in their areas, Lynch said. He said that in December 2005, Iraqi forces conducted 550 independent operations throughout Iraq.

"We're making progress with the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government in the growth of those forces, which are so important for the end state — security forces that can maintain domestic order and deny Iraq as a safe haven for terrorists," Lynch said.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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