Coalition forces continue to battle with insurgents in an effort to secure Ramadi. Over the past two weeks several incidents of fighting have been reported. John Carlson, a reported embedded with 224th Engineer Battalion of the Iowa National Guard writes “It’s noon Monday in Ramadi as I write this (4 a.m. in Iowa) and there’s been a big battle underway in the city. You can hear the machine gun fire from Camp Ramadi.” The evidence points to low level clashes, however.
Mr. Carlson describes an IED (improvised explosive device) hunter patrol manned by the engineers of the 224th. The soldiers use a vehicle called a Buffalo – which is specifically designed to find and root out roadside bombs and underground mines. It has been so effective that jihadis have immortalized it with graffiti imploring others to “Kill the Claw” – the long arm of the Buffalo that digs for IEDs.
The patrol of the 224th digs up several IEDs until the claw is put out off commission. The accompanying Marines and other patrols in the area report several firefights with insurgents. The Guardian reports an Iraqi Army patrol was attacked, and fought back. Effectively.
In Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, insurgents attacked an Iraqi army patrol, setting one vehicle on fire and sparking a gunbattle. Gunmen in black hoods were seen carrying machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in Ramadi’s streets, and Iraqi civilians gathered around the two burning Iraqi army pickup trucks. Some civilians celebrated the destruction by carrying around Iraqi military helmets and a military uniform taken from the wreckage.
But the insurgents appeared to have taken the worst of the fight. Seven gunmen were killed, said Capt. Jeffrey Pool, a U.S. military spokesman. No casualties were reported among the Iraqi troops.
The Iraqi Army is now in Ramadi, likely in battalion strength. Ramadi also possesses a police force, and while it is beleaguered, it will be bolstered by the arrival of reinforcements. The Iraqi Security Forces are coupled with a battalion of Marines, the 500 soldiers of the 224th engineer battalion and various attached Army units. Three Thousand Iraqi troops – most likely the Iraqi 7th Division which is being trained to operate in Anbar – sit directly east in Habbaniyah.
Compare the situation today to a year ago, when Fallujah, the gateway to Baghdad which lies east of Ramadi, was the headquarters of jihad – Zarqawi’s Islamic Republic. Much of the Sunni Triangle was described as a no-go zone and there was fear of a Shiite uprising. Today the jihadis are forced to declare their Islamic republics further west – in backwater farming towns and border outposts such as Haditha, Qaim, and formerly Sada. Operation Hunter, of which Operation Iron Fist is but a part, is designed to push the Coalition’s control of Anbar all the way to the Syrian border.
Update:
The clashes in Ramadi are due to Operation Hiba (Mountaineers). From the press release:
Iraqi Security Forces and 2nd Brigade Combat Team Soldiers, Airmen and Marines began a cordon and search operation today in and around Ar Ramadi’s southern district of Tammin.
The purpose of Operation Hiba (Mountaineers), which consists of 400 ISF soldiers and 500 U.S. service members, is to disrupt insurgents in southern Ramadi who are transporting weapons and munitions into the city. Additionally, ISF and Coalition Forces will establish an Entry Control Point at the Railroad Bridge in order to restrict the insurgents’ freedom of movement.
Aviation assets, as well as M1A1 Main Battle Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles are taking part in the operation.
Coalition Forces are conducting combined operations with Iraqi Security Forces throughout the Ramadi area. The level of ISF participation in today’s operation is indicative of the growing proficiency of new Iraqi Army units.
The Iraqi Security Forces are indeed pushing westward (see Operation River Gate as well) and are setting up shop in the cities along the Euphrates.
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Iron Fist was over ?
US troops launch big assault on al Qaeda in Iraq (in Haditha)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S. forces launched their biggest offensive so far this year against al Qaeda guerrillas in western Iraq when 2,500 troops moved on Tuesday against militants around Haditha, the military said in a statement.
Two months after a previous bid to push Islamist fighters out of the area, Operation River Gate was intended to stop al Qaeda operating in the city and two nearby towns, Haqlaniya and Barwana, and to “free the local citizens from the terrorists’ campaign of murder and intimidation”, it added.
Separately, about 1,000 troops have been fighting Qaeda militants near Qaim on the Syrian border, a further 120 km (75 miles) to the west, since Saturday in Operation Iron Fist.
“There are now two major operations going on simultaneously,” a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said.
In its statement on Haditha, the military said: “The operation’s goal is to deny al Qaeda in Iraq the ability to operate in the three Euphrates River Valley cities and to free the local citizens from the terrorists’ campaign of murder and intimidation of innocent women, children and men.
“Haditha is an important crossroads for al Qaeda in Iraq’s smuggling activities from the Syrian border.
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I taken the new message from MNF:
Operation River Gate launched
CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – The 2nd Marine Division launched Operation Bawwabatu Annaher, or River Gate in English, in the cities of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana Oct. 4.
Approximately 2,500 Marines, Soldiers and Sailors from Regimental Combat Team – 2 and Iraqi Security force soldiers are participating in the operation, making it the largest operation in the al Anbar province this year.
The operation’s goal is to deny al Qaeda in Iraq the ability to operate in the three Euphrates River Valley cities and to free the local citizens from the terrorists’ campaign of murder and intimidation of innocent women, children and men.
Haditha is an important crossroads for al Qaeda in Iraq’s smuggling activities from the Syrian border. Once in Haditha, smugglers can go north to Mosul or continue on to ar Ramadi, Fallujah or Baghdad. The city is home to approximately 75,000 Iraqis, a vital hydro-electric power plant, and 28 schools.
Coalition and Iraqi forces located in western al Anbar province have seen a recent increase of al Qaeda in Iraq violence in Haditha. Last Spring, terrorists attacked Haditha General Hospital, the largest in western al Anbar, with a suicide car bomb, destroying more than half of the building with the explosion and ensuing fire. Terrorists also established fortified firing positions inside the hospital and used patients and staff as human shields as they attacked Marines from the hospital and later retreated from the Marine counterattack.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
Good to see that the Iraqi Defense Minister is a man of his word.
The Cavalry has finally arrived.
I was involved with that battle on the 3rd (yesterday). I am stationed at Corrigidor. We kicked their asses
Good to see that the Iraqi Defense Minister is a man of his word.
The Cavalry has finally arrived.
think it’s interesting they haven’t really gone after Ramadi yet in a major way (I believe they were given a one-month deadline a couple weeks ago). I also haven’t heard much about Samarra. IIRC, those are both larger towns than those currently being engaged, and do not have an ISF presence (yet).
I’m assuimg Ramadi and Samarrah will be taken before the December elections. Could that be their last stand in Iraq? There aren’t many places left to run.
(reposted from above as it seemed more relevant here)
The soldiers use a vehicle called a Buffalo – which is specifically designed to find and root out roadside bombs and underground mines. It has been so effective that jihadis have immortalized it with graffiti imploring others to “Kill the Claw” – the long arm of the Buffalo that digs for IEDs.
One additional article on the Buffalo.
Good job of coverage Bill.
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