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Iraqi Salafi sources affirm that differences erupted last week in several areas of Al-Anbar province in western Iraq among groups belonging to Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia. These differences intervened after the Iraqi Jihadi groups had picked a new leader. The move confirmed previous reports that Iraqi militants of Al-Qaeda were still contesting the leadership of Abu Hamza Al-Muhajer or Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub Al-Masri. According to these reports, Iraqi Salafi groups, including Jaysh Al-Islam (Army of Al-Islam) support Abu Osama Al-Iraqi. Iraqi leaders of the tribes Al-Shammari, Al-Dulaimi and Al-Jibouri also support him. However, this will not be the end of the...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (NNS) -- The Army Corps of Engineers (ACoE) has been augmented this summer by some senior enlisted Navy leaders who volunteered as individual augmentees to help rebuild cities within the Al-Anbar Province in western Iraq. Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handler) (AW/SW) Michael Yule, who three months ago was teaching at the Center for Navy Leadership in Little Creek, Va., has now found himself playing a vital role in the rebuilding of the provincial cities of Al-Asaad, Ramadi and Fallujah. "Right now, we're rebuilding more than 50 houses in Fallujah," said Yule, a native of Pittsburgh. "We're also...

Multi-National Corps – Iraq Press Release Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory APO AE 09342 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 9, 2006 Release No. 20060809-01 Coalition Force helicopter goes down in Al Anbar CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A U.S. Army UH – 60 Blackhawk helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing went down August 8 in Al Anbar Province with six Coalition forces on board during an area familiarization flight. The aircraft has been located. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing for two missing crewmembers. The remaining four are in stable condition. “We are using all the resources available to find our...

RAMADI, Iraq – This morning Iraqi Security Forces, with support from Coalition forces, began searching Al Anbar University in southwestern Ramadi, which is being used as a center for insurgent activity. Iraqi and Coalition forces have received sniper fire from the hospital on multiple occasions, and credible intelligence reports indicated the university is being used as an insurgent safe haven and command center. Iraqi and Coalition forces are securing the university to provide a safe and secure educational environment. Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, with support from soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army 1st Brigade, 1st Armored...

AL ASAD, Iraq (June 6, 2006) -- Sipping on bottled water, rifle in hand and wearing a good 60 pounds of body armor on this sprawling U.S. military airbase, Lance Cpl. Emanuel Cantu says he doesn’t mind training for combat in Iraq’s blistering 110-plus degree temperature. In fact, he says he loves it. After all, four months of serving in Iraq as part of a quick reaction force has helped the 31-year-old Marine lose more than 20 pounds, but more importantly, he says he’s found his niche in the Marine Corps – training to save lives. “I feel like I’m...

"These Marines are great. America ought to be very proud of its Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen; they're doing great work out here." So Marine Col. Stephen Davis, the commander of Regimental Combat Team 2 (RCT-2), told me once we had a chance to talk near al Qaim, Iraq. Davis is in charge of Operation Matador, an effort to bring law and order to the bulk of Iraq's vast, western al Anbar province, which makes up one-third of the country. What these Marines are doing now near the Syrian border is what they did months ago in Fallujah, and the...

AL ASAD, Iraq (May 19, 2006) -- Since Cpl. Haider Mohammed Jender joined the Iraqi Army a year ago, he has learned how to combat insurgents and provide security to his people. Now, the 34-year-old Iraqi soldier has completed what he says is the most important training he’ll ever receive – how to save lives. Jender was one of 20 Iraqi soldiers who recently graduated from an Iraqi Army’s Basic Medical Course here – the first in western Al Anbar Province – five weeks of lectures, written examinations and practical application on what U.S. medical personnel deem as crucial life-saving...

AL ASAD, Iraq (May 9, 2006) -- The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Marines with Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted training April 25, in Al Asad, Iraq, to enhance their skills under varied conditions. The CBRN Marines have in place an incident response team to deal with situations that involve the use of the four agents. "We've taken traditional Nuclear, Biological and Chemical doctrine and modified it for use in a nontraditional NBC threat environment," said Sgt. Chad W. Jenkins, response team leader, CBRN, from Portland, Ore. "Here, we have to stay ready to defend...

HUSAYBAH, Iraq (May 3, 2006) -- Security, safety, and quality of life – three key elements to the continuing progress in this region of Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, according to local Iraqi leadership. Once a week, local sheiks and city officials meet with Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces officials in this small town near the Iraqi-Jordanian border, to discuss these topics and overall progress in this region along the Euphrates River. It’s also an opportunity for the city and tribal leaders to address any potential problems which might hinder that progress. At the latest of these town-hall-style meetings held April...

CAMP HABBINYAH, Iraq (April 30, 2006) -- Nearly 1,000 Iraqi Army soldiers graduated boot camp today, beginning the first step toward an integrated army in Al Anbar Province. “The movement of an integrated army in Al Anbar is the only future,” said Col. Larry D. Nicholson, commander of Regimental Combat Team 5, based in Fallujah. “When people look out their window and see the army, they need to be able to say, ‘It’s my army.’ Today, we took a very positive step in that direction.” A total of 973 Iraqi soldiers graduated a nearly five-week training regimen that turned civilians...

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 1, 2006) -- The Vipers of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 assumed authority from the Gunfighters of HMLA-369, for providing close air support, escort, surveillance, and reconnaissance to coalition ground and assault support forces in western Iraq. Having been in Iraq for less than two weeks, the Vipers, part of Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, received plenty of help from their predecessors in preparing for the dangerous mission ahead. "HMLA-369 did an incredible job of setting us up for success. They flew most of our aircraft commanders on numerous missions, provided...

HADITHA, Iraq (April 12, 2006) -- The windswept streets of Haditha are lined with stores and houses pocked with bullet holes that tell a story of a community once plagued by fear from insurgents and terrorists. Now, those stories are fading memories and new memories are being formed. The buildings in the city of approximately 30,000 are being rebuilt and children are free to play safely in the streets guarded by United States Marines. “The Marines are our friends and have been a gift from God,” said “Josem," in French, which he learned while studying at a university in France....

BARWANAH, Iraq (March 28, 2006) -- Hawaii-based Marines searching a known hotspot for insurgent-placed “improvised explosive devices” say the danger posed by these deadly devices do not deter them from providing security to the local populace here. The Marines operating in this western Al Anbar Province town had one detonate only a few feet from them during a recent patrol and search operation in this town along the Euphrates River. When the explosion occurred, the Marines, from Lima Co., 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, were teaching Iraqi Soldiers the tactics and procedures used by insurgents who place IEDs. Since January...

CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (March 21, 2006) -- Tucked neatly inside the Marines’ base here is an Iraqi Army camp, where Iraqi soldiers are training day and night to learn the skills they’ll need to eventually relieve Coalition Forces of security operations in Iraq. The Iraqi soldiers here – part of the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division – have spent months learning everything from basic marksmanship to administration and now, medical evacuation and treatment. Most recently, the soldiers here received arguably some of the most crucial training they’ll need to survive in western Al Anbar Province – how to...

<p>BREAKING: Hibhib village, Iraqi soldiers arrested 20 terrorists.</p> <p>BREAKING: Forward Operating Base Remagen, with Operation Swarmer, American heroes in helicopters.</p> <p>BREAKING: Basra- Market of military equipment, helping terrorist murders Al Anbar province, weapons found Baquba - Iraqi soldiers take terrorists Basra - Brave Brits in security operation Beiji - Operation 'Cordon and Knock' Najaf - Mehdi Army protects terrorist Moqtada Sadr Ramadi - Operation 'Band of Brothers', American and Iraqi heroes after bombings killed 64 people Tikrit - U.S. Army and Iraqi heroes on a 'knock and search' mission Victory base complex - Iraqis at their "hand over ceremony"</p>

CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (March 15, 2006) -- Iraqi soldiers are right on schedule with training requirements that will allow them to eventually relieve U.S. military forces in western Al Anbar Province, according to Marine officials here. Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division - one of two Iraqi Army brigades in western Al Anbar Province - have spent months now learning the administrative and decision-making processes they’ll need to function as a military headquarters element to the three Iraqi infantry battalions which will eventually be under their charge. Partnered with a Military Transition Team - groups of...

A chief of list to legislative in Iraq killed in an attack BAGHDAD - the sunnite Mezher Nagi Al-Doulaïmi, chief candidate to legislative of Thursday in Iraq, was killed Tuesday by shootings of unknown in the rebellious Al-Anbar province, in the west of Baghdad, announced a source of safety. The victim was the chief of the free Party Iraqi progressist, a small formation which introduced three candidates, of which Doulaïmi, with the poll in this province. "Of unknown opened fire on its car with Ramadi (Al-Anbar chief town), killing it and wounding a person who accompanied it", according to...

Camp Blue Diamond, Ar Ramadi, Iraq (Nov. 2, 2005) -- The 2nd Marine Division is progressively receiving the additional combat power that its commanders have requested to conduct the counter-insurgency operations in the Al Anbar province. The new battalion-sized units flowing into the Western Euphrates River Valley are from the newly trained Iraqi Army. This is a significant change compared to the number of available Iraqi Army units when the 2nd Marine Division took over from 1st Marine Division in March of this year. At that time, only Fallujah and Ramadi had any Iraqi Army or Public Order Brigade presence....

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Nov. 2, 2005) -- More than 22 years ago the United States government agreed to establish a peacekeeping presence in Beirut, Lebanon to help quell a conflict between Muslim and Christian factions in the country. In early 1983 Marines and Sailors of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, deployed to Beirut to support the mission. During the early morning hours of Oct., 23, 1983, having spent nearly six months in country, disaster struck. At approximately 6:22 a.m., 241 service members [220 Marines, 18 Sailors and three Soldiers] lost their lives in a matter of seconds when a suicide...

AL ANBAR, Iraq (Oct. 5, 2005) -- The 6th Civil Affairs Group has taken over operations from 5th CAG and has constructed additional plans for the future of Iraq's economic development. Health care, education, electricity and water works, and many other facets essential to the infrastructure of the country are already under way. "The work done by 5th CAG was a great stepping stone to further governance in Al Anbar," said Col. Miles Burdine, government suport team commanding officer. "We are taking some of their initiatives and adding our own to help rebuild the government and encourage Iraqi leadership to...