Monday, August 20, 2007
Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Shiite militias in s. Iraq
Security
(Gulf News) - About 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are believed to be training Shiite militias in the use of mortars and rockets in southern Iraq, the general commanding US troops in the area said on Sunday. "We are concerned primarily about the training of Shiite extremists. We think there are about 50 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards," Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces south of Baghdad, told reporters.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more accurate and more effective". Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed caches of weapons it says are from Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed penetrators". At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias in Iraq. Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in Iraq.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more accurate and more effective". Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed caches of weapons it says are from Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed penetrators". At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias in Iraq. Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in Iraq.
COMMENT: The U.S. has been threatening to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Force (RGF) a specially designated global terrorist group. This is not only likely to enrage Iran but will also give the U.S. more scope to pursue members of the RGF for illicit activites. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, EFPs, indirect fire attacks, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards, Ryan Crocker, Shiite militias, southern Iraq
Thursday, August 16, 2007
U.S. forces launch air assault south of Baghdad
Military
(Reuters) - U.S. forces launched an airborne assault on a desert compound south of Baghdad on Thursday, the first air strike in a major new offensive. A company of airborne infantry struck villas in search of Sunni Arab militants. The assault was a first part of operation Marne Husky, itself part of a countrywide push announced this week against both Sunni Arab and Shi'ite militants.
Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. forces south of Baghdad, told Reuters on Wednesday that about 4,000 of his men would be involved in the operation and would use air strikes and air-mobile infantry units to attack insurgents in the Tigris River valley south of the Iraqi capital.Pointing on a map to the palm groves south of Baghdad in an area known as Arab Jabour, he said his troops had already pushed out many Sunni Arab militants in the past month and now planned to strike those who escaped southwards.
Washington sent an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq this year and has pushed them from big bases into neighborhood outposts in an effort to reduce sectarian violence and defeat both Sunni Arab insurgents and hostile Shi'ite militia. Operation Marne Husky involves sending infantry into territory where U.S. forces had not had a presence in the past, in an area south of Baghdad U.S. troops call the "Triangle of Death."
"Tonight it's going to be the first time in about a year they've seen coalition forces. They've had aircraft flying overhead. But they can't hide from infantry kicking down the doors," Lynch said. The U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is due to report to Congress next month on the success of his strategy. This week U.S. forces announced the launch of a countrywide offensive, operation Phantom Strike.
On Tuesday they announced the first part of Phantom Strike, known as operation Lightning Hammer, which began with an airborne assault on the Diyala River valley north of the capital. A spokesman for the unit said the soldiers were airlifted out before dawn having captured five suspected militants, destroyed homemade explosives and uncovered a cache of weapons.
Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. forces south of Baghdad, told Reuters on Wednesday that about 4,000 of his men would be involved in the operation and would use air strikes and air-mobile infantry units to attack insurgents in the Tigris River valley south of the Iraqi capital.Pointing on a map to the palm groves south of Baghdad in an area known as Arab Jabour, he said his troops had already pushed out many Sunni Arab militants in the past month and now planned to strike those who escaped southwards.
Washington sent an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq this year and has pushed them from big bases into neighborhood outposts in an effort to reduce sectarian violence and defeat both Sunni Arab insurgents and hostile Shi'ite militia. Operation Marne Husky involves sending infantry into territory where U.S. forces had not had a presence in the past, in an area south of Baghdad U.S. troops call the "Triangle of Death."
"Tonight it's going to be the first time in about a year they've seen coalition forces. They've had aircraft flying overhead. But they can't hide from infantry kicking down the doors," Lynch said. The U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is due to report to Congress next month on the success of his strategy. This week U.S. forces announced the launch of a countrywide offensive, operation Phantom Strike.
On Tuesday they announced the first part of Phantom Strike, known as operation Lightning Hammer, which began with an airborne assault on the Diyala River valley north of the capital. A spokesman for the unit said the soldiers were airlifted out before dawn having captured five suspected militants, destroyed homemade explosives and uncovered a cache of weapons.
Labels: air assault, Arab Jabour, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Marne Husky, Operation Lightning Hammer, Operation Phantom Strike, Shiite militias, Sunni militants, U.S. forces
Friday, May 18, 2007
U.S. military says suspects have been detained
Security
(LA Times) - The military said Wednesday that it had detained people believed to be "directly linked" to a weekend assault in which attackers ambushed two Humvees, killing four U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter, and leaving three others missing and presumed captured. The commander of the region where the attack occurred, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, offered details Wednesday of the ambush that portrayed the attackers as coordinated, swift and brutally effective.
Lynch said the eight troops in two Humvees were attacked after they had set up a position, guarded by rolls of razor wire, near a crater caused by previous bombings. The blast site, on a road about 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, had become a favorite spot for insurgents to plant bombs. Additional soldiers were at a patrol base about 1,500 feet to the north, Lynch said. Evidence indicated that the attackers used grenades and other hand-held explosives, and converged from several directions, he said. Drag marks leading to tire tracks showed that the missing men were pulled from the area to vehicles about 45 feet away.
The military is trying to determine whether the two Humvees were sufficient to guarantee the troops' protection and whether the patrol had taken necessary precautions. Those precautions would include not being positioned at a spot previously used by U.S. troops, Lynch said.
Lt. Col. Randy A. Martin, a military spokesman, said 679 people were being held for questioning but did not disclose how many of them were suspected of having direct links to the attack. The Islamic State of Iraq, an insurgent coalition loyal to Al Qaeda, has claimed it is holding the soldiers, but has not provided proof. Terrorism experts have said the group may be attempting to stretch out the agony of its adversary.
"Like all the best terrorists … they seek to maximize the most effect of an act of violence," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. "It's not just putting the knife in, but twisting it slowly." Psychological warfare is a crucial tactic to insurgents in Iraq, where the battle is aimed at undermining the U.S. occupation and heightening tensions between Iraqi civilians and American troops, said James Phillips, a Middle East analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
Phillips said Al Qaeda groups knew that an ambush leading to the capture of soldiers could attract more attention than merely killing troops in a bombing. "It is possible that all of the people were killed and that they took some of the bodies so they could use them as a psychological counter," he said. "From their point of view, it's more useful to get their message across that they are still a force."
The four soldiers killed in the attack were from the 10th Mountain Division in Ft. Drum, N.Y. Their bodies arrived Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. At a news conference on the base Wednesday, spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick said searchers were operating under the assumption the missing are alive, "and are either under the control of extremists or, possibly, may be attempting to evade. Either way, our premise is that we assume they are alive unless proven otherwise."
Lynch said the eight troops in two Humvees were attacked after they had set up a position, guarded by rolls of razor wire, near a crater caused by previous bombings. The blast site, on a road about 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, had become a favorite spot for insurgents to plant bombs. Additional soldiers were at a patrol base about 1,500 feet to the north, Lynch said. Evidence indicated that the attackers used grenades and other hand-held explosives, and converged from several directions, he said. Drag marks leading to tire tracks showed that the missing men were pulled from the area to vehicles about 45 feet away.
The military is trying to determine whether the two Humvees were sufficient to guarantee the troops' protection and whether the patrol had taken necessary precautions. Those precautions would include not being positioned at a spot previously used by U.S. troops, Lynch said.
Lt. Col. Randy A. Martin, a military spokesman, said 679 people were being held for questioning but did not disclose how many of them were suspected of having direct links to the attack. The Islamic State of Iraq, an insurgent coalition loyal to Al Qaeda, has claimed it is holding the soldiers, but has not provided proof. Terrorism experts have said the group may be attempting to stretch out the agony of its adversary.
"Like all the best terrorists … they seek to maximize the most effect of an act of violence," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. "It's not just putting the knife in, but twisting it slowly." Psychological warfare is a crucial tactic to insurgents in Iraq, where the battle is aimed at undermining the U.S. occupation and heightening tensions between Iraqi civilians and American troops, said James Phillips, a Middle East analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
Phillips said Al Qaeda groups knew that an ambush leading to the capture of soldiers could attract more attention than merely killing troops in a bombing. "It is possible that all of the people were killed and that they took some of the bodies so they could use them as a psychological counter," he said. "From their point of view, it's more useful to get their message across that they are still a force."
The four soldiers killed in the attack were from the 10th Mountain Division in Ft. Drum, N.Y. Their bodies arrived Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. At a news conference on the base Wednesday, spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick said searchers were operating under the assumption the missing are alive, "and are either under the control of extremists or, possibly, may be attempting to evade. Either way, our premise is that we assume they are alive unless proven otherwise."
Labels: 10th Mountain Division in Ft. Drum, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Islamic State of Iraq, Lt. Col. Randy A. Martin, Mahmoudiya, Missing U.S. troops
