Thursday, September 06, 2007
26,000 U.S. and Iraq forces go on offensive in n. Iraq
Security
(CNN) -- About 26,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces are taking part in an offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Thursday. Iraqis gather at the site of a U.S. airstrike on Baghdad Thursday. Residents said people were killed in their sleep. The operation, Lightning Hammer II, is an extension of an earlier operation in Diyala province.
About 14,000 Iraqi security forces stationed throughout Nineveh province and 12,000 U.S. soldiers are conducting the operation, which started Wednesday evening. The military said the operation "follows Lightning Hammer I ... to deny al Qaeda safe haven in the provinces" of Salaheddin, Nineveh, Diyala, and Kirkuk.
The military said the original Operation Lightning Hammer -- August 13 to September 1 -- ousted militants from the Diyala River valley, northeast of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province. "Al Qaeda cells were driven from Baquba in Diyala due to Operation Arrowhead Ripper in June and July and then pursued in the Diyala River valley during Operation Lighting Hammer in August," Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division-North.
About 14,000 Iraqi security forces stationed throughout Nineveh province and 12,000 U.S. soldiers are conducting the operation, which started Wednesday evening. The military said the operation "follows Lightning Hammer I ... to deny al Qaeda safe haven in the provinces" of Salaheddin, Nineveh, Diyala, and Kirkuk.
The military said the original Operation Lightning Hammer -- August 13 to September 1 -- ousted militants from the Diyala River valley, northeast of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province. "Al Qaeda cells were driven from Baquba in Diyala due to Operation Arrowhead Ripper in June and July and then pursued in the Diyala River valley during Operation Lighting Hammer in August," Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division-North.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Iraqi forces, Lightning Hammer II, northern Iraq, U.S. forces
Monday, July 02, 2007
Iraqi Cabinet Rejects Any MNF Operations Without Iraqi Force’s Permission Or Prior Coordination
Coalition
(Al Istaqama Newspaper) - 1 JUL - On June 30th, the Cabinet announced in a press statement that they reject any MNF operation in all of Iraq without prior permission or coordination with Iraqi forces. The statement also said that the Iraqi government ordered the Iraqi Special Forces to not participate in any military operation without permission from the Iraqi chain of command, and anyone who violates this order will be prosecuted. The statement added that the government is pursuing all outlaws regardless of their ethnicity or sect who are firing mortars at the government facilities and killing innocent people. The government will demand an explanation from the MNF about what happened yesterday in Sadr City.
Labels: Iraqi forces, Iraqi government, MNF operations, Sadr City
