Operation Swarmer Near Samarra

"A joint U.S. & Iraq force launches large air assault operation; Iraqi military uniforms discovered


North-central Iraq has become a main focus in the fight against the insurgency. In what is described as the "largest air assault operation since Operation Iraqi Freedom I," a joint Iraqi & U.S. multi-battalion task force, comprised of elements of the Iraqi Army’s 1st Brigade, 4th Division, the Iraqi police 2nd Commando Brigade, the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade struck at a town northeast of Samarra. CENTCOM reports the task force is made up of "more than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft..." and gives the blow-by-blow on the raid:

Attack and assault aircraft provided aerial weapons support for the operation and also delivered troops from the Iraq Army’s 4th Division, the Rakkasans from 1st and 3rd Battalions, 187th Infantry Regiment and the Hunters from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment to multiple objectives. Forces from the 2nd Commando Brigade then completed a ground infiltration to secure numerous structures in the area.

The assault netted "a number of enemy weapons caches have been captured, containing artillery shells, explosives, IED-making materials, and military uniforms." The inclusion of the military uniforms, while certainly not a new development, serves as a reminder that insurgents are using Iraqi Army and police uniforms, and that some of the reported sectarian-related violence may in fact be initiated by the insurgency to discredit the Iraqi security forces and stir up ethnic tensions."
The Fourth Rail