Posted on 01/21/2008 10:10:25 AM PST by mdittmar
US and Iraqi ground forces edged cautiously towards an Al-Qaeda stronghold just south of Baghdad on Monday after the area was heavily bombed overnight, an AFP photographer said.
Troops of the US 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment were using Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to inch forward and clearing roadside bombs with remote-controlled robots, said the photographer, who was moving with the unit.
MRAPs are armoured fighting vehicles designed to survive roadside bomb attacks and ambushes.
Apache helicopter gunships were hovering over the area where the bombs had destroyed buildings and caused craters in the roads.
The US military said American warplanes overnight pounded suspected Al-Qaeda havens in Arab Jabour, 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Baghdad, for the third time this month, hitting more than 30 targets in a 35-bomb blitz.
The mainly Sunni rural area of Arab Jabour was hit with bombs weighing a total of 19,000 pounds (9,000 kilograms) during the air raids, which aimed to destroy roadside bombs and arms caches, a military statement said.
The AFP photographer said a further short bombing blitz took place mid-afternoon on Monday.
By nightfall, troops were setting up camp in a village near Arab Jabour, erecting tents and taking over abandoned houses.
"This particular mission targeted an area where Al-Qaeda laid obstacles (such as) improvised explosive devices (bombs) and took up safe haven at the same time," a US military statement said.
"They also used the land to traffic weapons and send fighters up into Baghdad."
The operation on Sunday night and early Monday involved precision air strikes by air force, navy and marine F-18 fighter jets and B-1 bombers, it added.
The strikes were carried out during the night in a bid to avoid civilian casualties.
"Since the locals adhere to a strict night curfew, this makes a night mission more safe and effective," the statement said.
The latest strikes follow air raids in the Arab Jabour area on January 10 and January 16 in which, according to the statement, "a combined total of 99 targets has been hit, with a total weight of 99,000 pounds of bombs."
The raids form part of Operation Phantom Phoenix, an assault by Iraqi and US forces launched on January 8 against Al-Qaeda in Iraq strongholds across the country.
US military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday that 1,023 suspected extremists had been arrested and 121 killed since the assault was launched.
The United States has not released a breakdown of casualty figures from the three air raids, but a leader of an anti-Qaeda "Awakening" front in Arab Jabour said at least 21 suspected Al-Qaeda fighters were killed on January 10.
I wish these people would write better headlines.
Oh my. That sounds so aggressive. Couldn't they just, I don't know, shoot the guns out of the bad guy's hands? Like they do on TV? =snicker=
God Bless Our Troops.
We only have a choice of fighting them in Iraq or fighting them here at home.
Where would you prefer to fight them?
Thanks for posting. Another battle won. The long war continues.
Lots of bombs being expended on this one little area of the sandbox.....wonder WHO the target is they are after.
There are a lot of us who express delight at the fact that al Qaeda is wounded and crippled in Iraq. That the US and coalition forces are defeating them.
Are WE the ones you'd like to throw mud at?
Just curious.
The target has clear value because the laying of IED's to cover an orderly retreat speaks of military discipline, a rare bird to see in Arab cultures.
Further, our attack helicopters hovering at the edge of the combat zone, rather than making sweeping passes through the combat zone, hints at enemy anti-aircraft capabilities.
This is of course good news in the sense that finding such a well-regulated enemy concentration means that we will destroy something of considerable value to Al-Qaeda. Far better to know where such a force is located than to have it in the wild.
Interesting comment there dude....care to tell us why you want to throw mud at people who want Al Qaeda destroyed...
This time....forget the sarcasm.... it crashed and burned the first time..
Three visits to this one patch of Iraqi real estate in the last two weeks or so.....makes me wonder if it is more than trying to drive AQ from the area.
Well, they've only reported three...
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