Officials said despite early setbacks Iraqi security forces have taken
control over most of Basra, long dominated by Iranian-financed militias.
They said army and police units were also sustaining counter-insurgency
operations in Baghdad's Sadr City, headquarters of the Mahdi Army.
"In Basra and Baghdad, Iraqi security forces have demonstrated bravery
and professionalism and have made great strides in securing those areas
where Iraqis were held hostage by those who oppose the rule of law and
commit acts of violence that endangered innocent Iraqis," Driscoll told a
briefing on April 27.
Iraq Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said Iraqi and coalition
security forces have removed hundreds of roadside bombs and other unexploded
ordnance from Sadr City, with a population of three million. Atta said the
operation has helped in efforts to normalize the situation in the eastern
Baghdad district.
Neither Atta nor Driscoll discussed reports of Iraq Army and police
withdrawing from positions in Sadr City in late April. The withdrawals were
said to have taken place amid withering Mahdi Army rocket fire, which has
also targeted Baghdad's Green Zone, which contains the U.S. embassy and
Iraqi government.
Officials said the coalition and Baghdad government intend to follow up
counter-insurgency operations with reconstruction in Basra and Sadr City.
They said the government has allocated more than $100 million for Basra and
$150 million for Sadr City.
The Iraq Army has also expanded its civil-military operations center in
Basra, officials said. The center, which contains U.S. and British advisers,
was designed to directs reconstruction efforts across the city.
In Baghdad, the U.S. military and Iraq Army have targeted the
Iranian-financed Special Groups, said to be a splinter of the Mahdi Army.
From April 25 through April 28, at least 42 Special Groups fighters were
killed, officials said.
Over the last week, Iraq Army and police units sought to secure the
Hyyaniyah district in Basra. In a two-day period, the Iraqi forces found
caches of 60 mm, 105 mm and 120 mm mortars as well as rocket-propelled
grenade rounds, RPG tubes, artillery shells and a 220 mm rocket.
"The Iraqi Army worked well," U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Robert Washington,
a military adviser to the Iraq Army's 1st Division, said. "They met
timelines and controlled their forces."
