insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the U.S. military said. The American troops were joined by the Iraqi army. (AP Photo/ Sgt. First Class Antony Joseph, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs)
Posted on 03/16/2006 9:00:01 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
U.S., Iraqis Launch 'Operation Swarmer'
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago
U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.
The U.S. military said the offensive dubbed Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days.
"More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said.
Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, was the site of a massive bombing against a Shiite shrine on Feb. 22 that touched off sectarian bloodshed that has killed more than 500 and injured hundreds more, threatening to push Iraq into civil war.
It is a key city in Salahuddin province, a major part of the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents have been active since shortly after the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. Saddam Hussein was captured in the province, not far from its capital and his hometown, Tikrit.
Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the attack had been necessary to prevent insurgents from forming a new stronghold such as they had established in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
"After Fallujah and some of the operations carried out successfully in the Euphrates and Syrian border many of the insurgents moved to areas nearer to Baghdad," Zebari said on CNN. "They have to be pulled out by the roots."
The assault came as Iraq's new parliament was sworn in Thursday, with parties still deadlocked over the next government, vehicles banned from Baghdad's streets to prevent car bombings and the country under the shadow of a feared civil war.
The long-expected first session, which took place within days of the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, lasted just over 30 minutes and was adjourned indefinitely because the legislature still has no speaker.
Residents in the targeted area said there was a heavy U.S. and Iraqi troop presence in the area and large explosions could be heard in the distance.
It was not clear if the U.S. aircraft had carried out any raids nor were there reports of insurgent resistance.
The operation, residents said, appeared to be concentrated near four villages — Jillam, Mamlaha, Banat Hassan and Bukaddou — about 20 miles north of Samarra. The villages are near the highway leading from Samarra to the city of Adwar.
Waqas al-Juwanya, a spokesman for Iraq's joint coordination center in nearby Dowr, said "unknown gunmen exist in this area, killing and kidnapping policemen, soldiers and civilians."
Near the end of the first day of the operation, the military said, "a number of enemy weapons caches have been captured, containing artillery shells, explosives, IED-making materials, and military uniforms."
It said the attack began with soldiers from the Iraqi army's 1st Brigade, 4th Division, the U.S. 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade conducting a combined air and ground assault to isolate the objective area.
Air power backed the operation and delivered troops from the Iraq army's 4th Division, the Rakkasans from 1st and 3rd Battalions, 187th Infantry Regiment and the Hunters from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment to multiple objectives.
The military said forces from the 2nd Commando Brigade then completed a ground infiltration to secure numerous structures in the area.
Adnan Pachachi, the senior politician who administered the oath to Iraqi legislators in the absence of a speaker, spoke of a country in crisis.
"We have to prove to the world that a civil war is not and will not take place among our people," Pachachi told lawmakers. "The danger is still looming and the enemies are ready for us because they do not like to see a united, strong, stable Iraq."
As Pachachi spoke, he was interrupted from the floor by senior Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who said the remarks were inappropriate because of their political nature.
Even the oath was a source of disagreement, with the head of the committee that drafted the country's new constitution, Humam Hammoudi, protesting that lawmakers had strayed from the text. After brief consultations, judicial officials agreed the wording was acceptable.
Meanwhile, a top Iranian official said his country was ready to open direct talks with the United States over Iraq, marking a major shift in foreign policy a day after al-Hakim called for such talks.
The White House said the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is authorized to talk with Iran about Iraq, much as the United States has talked with Iran about issues relating to Afghanistan.
"But this is a very narrow mandate dealing specifically with issues relating to Iraq," presidential press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator and secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, also told reporters that any talks between the United States and Iran would deal only with Iraqi issues.
"To resolve Iraqi issues and help establishment of an independent and free government in Iraq, we agree to (talks with the United States)," Larijani said after a closed meeting of the parliament Thursday.
Larijani said Khalilzad had invited Iran for talks on Iraq.
Washington repeatedly has accused Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs and of sending weapons and men to help insurgents in Iraq, allegations the Iranians have denied.
A pianist played as representatives of Iraq's main ethnic and religious blocs — many in traditional Arab and Kurdish dress — filed into a convention center behind the concrete blast walls of the heavily fortified Green Zone for parliament's first meeting.
Hours after the session adjourned, two mortar shells were fired into the Green Zone, Interior Ministry official Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said. No casualties were reported.
The inaugural session started the clock on a 60-day period in which parliament must elect a president and approve a prime minister and Cabinet.
Acting Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was optimistic. "If politicians work seriously, we can have a government within a month," he said.
Al-Jaafari's candidacy for a second term as prime minister is at the center of the political logjam that delayed parliament's first session for more than a month after the results of Dec. 15 elections were approved.
Under the constitution, the largest parliamentary bloc, controlled by Shiites, has the right to nominate the prime minister. Al-Jaafari won the Shiite nomination by a single vote last month.
Politicians involved in the negotiations have said part of the Shiite bloc, those aligned with al-Hakim, would like to see al-Jaafari ousted but fear the consequences, given his backing from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and al-Sadr's thousands-strong Mahdi Army.
Sunni, Kurdish and some secular Shiites argue al-Jaafari is too divisive and accuse him of not doing enough to contain waves of revenge killing after bombers destroyed an important Shiite shrine on Feb. 22 and ripped apart teeming markets in an al-Sadr stronghold in Baghdad on Sunday.
insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the U.S. military said. The American troops were joined by the Iraqi army. (AP Photo/ Sgt. First Class Antony Joseph, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs)
Go ARMY!!!
IS this is response to the attack on the Green Zone late last week?
US launches REALLY BIG air assault in Samara
US Launches Major Offensive Against Sunni Insurgents (largest Air Offensive since 2003 invasion)
Thanks for the post...great photos.
It's amazing how much weaponry there is stashed all over Iraq. We'ce captured and destroyed an untold number of weapons caches, yet keep finding more and more and more.
Right on, Steve. One wonders how the weaponry is getting in there, or has it been there all along ...
Thanks Ernest, love the pic in #114 ... that sight alone should make Iran take notice.
Ahhh ... the persuasive power of the US.
Oh how they wish!
BTTT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.