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President Donald Trump has pardoned four Blackwater security guards who were given lengthy prison sentences for killing 14 civilians in Baghdad in 2007, a massacre that caused international uproar over the use of private contractors in war zones. The four – Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten – were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns and grenade launchers on a crowd of unarmed people in the Iraqi capital. Known as the Nisour Square massacre, the slaughter was seen as a low point in the conflict in Iraq. In 2014, Slough, Liberty and...

This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during March 2012. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 31 March 2012. Highlights in this update include: - 10 battalions shifted to Baghdad for AL Summit; Rumors of BTR4 cancellation continue. - Aviation contracts to announce in April, L159s still in contention. - OSVs identified, 9 PBs delivered with 12th to deliver in May. - Rumors of increased control of Basrah security by Baghdad.

CONTINGENCY OUTPOST ADDER – With the help of U.S. forces, Iraqi Police here are preparing themselves to provide a safe and secure environment for voters during the March 7 Iraqi elections. In the Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, local IP forces have stopped their regular training to prep for the long Election Day ahead of them. In an-Nasiriyah, warehouses are filled with ballots ready be shipped out all over the province. U.S. assessment teams have been checking these high-profile areas for cracks in security to prevent any terrorist activities that would hamper the election process. "The warehouse stores ballots...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Police arrested a suspected Jaysh al-Islami (JAI) terrorist group explosives-cell leader and nine suspected criminal accomplices, in addition to discovering a large weapons cache, during two joint security operations conducted yesterday near Tikrit. Pursuant to a warrant issued by an Iraqi court, IP and U.S. advisors first searched a residential building in a small village about 29 km northwest of Tikrit for the suspected Bayji JAI explosives-cell leader who is believed to have coordinated multiple improvised explosive device attacks against security forces in the region. Evidence collected at the scene led IP to positively identify and arrest...

KIRKUK — Iraqi Police here on Tuesday detained nine suspected al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) members in possession of bomb making materials. One of the nine is believed to be Abdallah Abd Qadir, who is known to have purchased thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate in 2006. Qadir has ties to known AQI members associated with insurgent activity in Baghdad. Iraqi Police in the Domies neighborhood of Kirkuk city stopped two suspicious vehicles at a routine traffic check point Monday, which led to the discovery of more than 300 pounds of ammonium nitrate and a can of gasoline in the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, July 24, 2009 – National police in Iraq’s Wasit province now are capable of sustaining their own training needs after coalition forces leave here, military officials said, thanks to the efforts of a Massachusetts National Guard police company. Capt. Hayder Adnan Ali, Iraqi police liaison to coalition forces, instructs trainees on proper shooting techniques from the prone position while Sgt. Hayder Sahib Silan, Iraqi police mobile training team instructor in Wasit province, Iraq, demonstrates at the police provincial headquarters, July 20, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

Sgt. Frankie Hibberd (far right), of 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, uses hand gestures and animated facial expressions to teach nine members of the Daughters of Iraq search techniques at an old high school in Yusifiyah, June 12. Photo by Spc. Ruth McClary, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Loud chatter filled the room as ten women from the Daughters of Iraq (DoI) gathered at an old high school in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, to train new-hires, update information in the U.S. forces database and discuss present conditions with U.S. Army officers, June 12. The...

A convoy of security forces Airmen from the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Detachment 2, roll out of Camp Striker, Iraq May 8. The Airmen will convoy outside the wire to a local city to train and mentor the Iraqi Police on everything from conducting basic patrols to weapon handling techniques. Photo by Senior Airman Jacqueline Romero. CAMP STRYKER — In a crowded briefing room more than two dozen security forces members sporting flight suits casually sit and wait for their squad leader to start the briefing for the day's mission. As the squad leader makes his way to the...

MOSUL — Iraqi Police gathered with their counterparts from the Iraqi National Police and Iraqi Army at the 3rd Iraqi Police Division’s new operations center for a situational update briefing on the morning of May 26. The IP realized they could leverage significant operational gains with their own operations center to conduct mission planning and tracking, while working with key personnel from the Iraqi Army and Iraqi National Police. "[The Iraqi Police] recognize that they need to work together with the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi National Police. To do that, they needed a functional operations center from which they...

MOSUL, Iraq, May 21, 2009 – More than 1,000 Iraqi police recruits stood at attention on the Public Service Academy parade field here as dignitaries and guests gathered to celebrate their graduation from basic police training May 11. Their graduation signifies Ninevah province's compliance with an Iraqi Interior Ministry directive requiring all currently employed Iraqi police officers to be formally trained by June. Ninevah Gov. Atheel al-Nujaifi and Khalid Hussein Ali al-Hamdani, general director of police, watched the newly trained officers use smoke grenades, blank ammunition and pyrotechnics in a building-clearing demonstration. Guests watched a series of hand-to-hand combat...

BAGHDAD – Back-to-back suicide bombings killed 60 people Friday outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad, a day after the country was rocked by its most deadly violence in more than a year.

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2009 – The Iraqi Interior Ministry is making progress toward minimizing corruption and maximizing the trust of the Iraqi people, a military officer involved in the effort said April 17. Air Force Maj. Joseph Musacchia, commander of the 81st Security Forces Squadron, told participants in a “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable that to create trust between the Iraqi people and their government, coalition and Interior Ministry officials have instituted courses in the ministry’s Inspector General office and Internal Affairs offices that teach police ethics and focus on anticorruption initiatives. “We’ve been working with the Ministry of Interior, especially...

Capt. Ghissan K. Towman, Police Department forensic examiner in Hillah, and Jessica D. Janisch, Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility-1 certified latent print examiner, compare fingerprints collected from a CD during a training exercise, April 2, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Bethany L. Little. WASHINGTON — Coalition forces in Iraq are increasingly working to develop the country’s non-military capabilities, such as its criminal justice program. In recent weeks, that has meant training the Iraqis in forensic science. Troops assigned to the Coalition’s Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility (JEFF )-1 began training Iraqi Police outside Forward Operating Base Kalsu in southern Iraq, April...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, April 17, 2009 – The 772nd Military Police Company and an Iraqi police advisor team are starting a new approach to police training in Iraq’s Wasit province that will provide a sustainable training system for when coalition forces leave the country. “Our overall goal is to start a program in Wasit that can be a model for the rest of the country,” said Army Staff Sgt. Elton Dean, headquarters squad leader, 772nd MP Company. “What we want to do is give the minister of interior a reason to institute a program like this in order...

BAGHDAD — Two months ago, more than 700 recruits registered for rigorous professional police training that would prepare them to become Iraqi Police officers. Upon the eight-week course's completion this week, 537 of those individuals officially joined the ranks of Iraq's police force, making it official during a graduation ceremony at the Al Furat Iraqi Police training center. This group was the fifth Iraqi Police class to graduate in recent months from the academy in Al Furat. Last month, a class of 314 graduated. Following graduation, they were assigned to patrol duties in towns and cities throughout Iraq. "These regular...

Iraqi policemen shot dead four US soldiers and their local interpreter in the main northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, an interior ministry official said. "Four US soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed by two Iraqi policemen who opened fire at them in the Dawasa district of (central) Mosul and then fled," the official told AFP, declining to be named. The incident took place during a US army visit to the Mosul headquarters of the Iraqi police in charge of protecting the city's bridges, police said. The bullet-riddled body of the interpreter was taken to the local mortuary. It...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2009 – With U.S. operations in Iraq shifting from providing security to ensuring Iraqi sovereignty, troops there are stepping up their training of Iraqi forces. Iraqi policeman Lt. Ahmed, center, and members of his special weapons and tactics team look on during training at Convoy Support Center Cedar in Iraq’s Dhi Qar province in December 2008. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. James Jordan  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. U.S. soldiers in southern Iraq in recent days have trained Iraqi forces in everything from special weapons and tactics to criminal investigations to mortar firing. And,...

FALLUJAH — Iraqi’s independent security capabilities continued to expand throughout eastern Anbar province as the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, recently turned over command of the battalion’s final entry control point, ECP 1, to the Fallujah District Chief of Police, Feb. 5. Entry control points are manned security positions that screen persons attempting to enter specific areas for weapons, contraband and a criminal history. They are often used as a security measure around cities to protect the population. Now that Iraqi Security Forces control all entry control points in the Fallujah area, Coalition forces will be...

Members of the Iraqi National Police show off their newly inked fingers after voting in the provincial elections at the Bilal Al Habashi School in the Istaqlal Qada of northeastern Baghdad, Jan. 28, 2009. Photo by Scott Flenner, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. ISTAQLAL — Members of the Iraqi Police and National Police kicked off the provincial elections by placing their vote at the Bilal Al Habashi School in Istaqlal Qada in northeast Baghdad, Jan 28. “This is a good step for Iraq and the people. They have free opinions to vote wherever they want and for any person they...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28, 2009 – Nearly 500 new Iraqi policewomen graduated from the Baghdad Police College here Jan. 26, marking the largest female class ever to graduate from the school, officials said. Among their first duties, the new graduates will serve front-line roles providing security for the Jan. 31 election. “We feel proud and happy that we are bringing new opportunity to Iraqi women today, and more women will follow us,” a graduate said. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani congratulated the new graduates for “taking another step toward rebuilding Iraqi security.” “These women are now sharing duties with the policemen...