.Insurgent strikes move out of Baghdad, into Diyala
BAQOUBA, Iraq - Sunni insurgents have been streaming out of Baghdad to escape the security crackdown, carrying the fight to neighboring Diyala province where direct fire attacks on Americans have nearly doubled since last summer, U.S. soldiers say.
That has led to sharp fighting only 35 miles north of the capital in a province known as “Little Iraq” because of its near-equal mix of Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Kurds - the country's three major groups. At stake is a strategic region that extends from the northeastern gates of Baghdad to the border with Iran.
“I was here in 2004 and I don't remember them ever attacking tanks in open daylight, but now that's exactly what they're doing,” said Capt. Paul Carlock, a company commander in the Army's 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment.
“There's a big Sunni influx here, and in the last month or so it's been pretty violent,” said Carlock, 31, of Chattanooga, Tenn. “They're getting more aggressive and changing tactics.”
Some U.S. officers suspect the advance publicity for the Baghdad security plan may have encouraged extremists - both Sunnis and Shiites - to flee the capital for surrounding provinces, including Diyala, where fewer U.S. troops are stationed.
Even before President Bush announced last month that he was sending in 21,500 more soldiers, mostly to Baghdad, violence had been steadily increasing in Diyala, among the most religiously mixed of Iraq's 18 provinces.
Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala last June.
On Thursday, a rooftop sniper fired on members of the 12th Cavalry as they patrolled a suburb of Baqouba with Iraqi soldiers. Shots rang out through abandoned streets for about 15 minutes until a Bradley fighting vehicle rumbled in, firing a 25 mm machine gun that thundered through the neighborhood and drove off attackers.
It is unclear how many insurgents have entered the province over the last month. But U.S. officers believe the numbers must be substantial because of the sharp spike in violence.
Last July, U.S. soldiers came under 90 direct fire attacks. According to Col. David W. Sutherland, last month the number of such attacks was up about 70 percent, to 157 attacks.
Lt. Col. Morris Goins, 41, a battalion commander, said his battalion has lost 17 soldiers since it arrived in Iraq in October. Nine of those soldiers were killed in the past 11 days.
The World Link
Wasn't this making the rounds in the blogs about two weeks ago? The MSN really needs to get with the program.
That has led to sharp fighting only 35 miles north of the capital in a province known as “Little Iraq” because of its near-equal mix of Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Kurds - the country's three major groups. At stake is a strategic region that extends from the northeastern gates of Baghdad to the border with Iran.
“I was here in 2004 and I don't remember them ever attacking tanks in open daylight, but now that's exactly what they're doing,” said Capt. Paul Carlock, a company commander in the Army's 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment.
“There's a big Sunni influx here, and in the last month or so it's been pretty violent,” said Carlock, 31, of Chattanooga, Tenn. “They're getting more aggressive and changing tactics.”
Some U.S. officers suspect the advance publicity for the Baghdad security plan may have encouraged extremists - both Sunnis and Shiites - to flee the capital for surrounding provinces, including Diyala, where fewer U.S. troops are stationed.
Even before President Bush announced last month that he was sending in 21,500 more soldiers, mostly to Baghdad, violence had been steadily increasing in Diyala, among the most religiously mixed of Iraq's 18 provinces.
Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala last June.
On Thursday, a rooftop sniper fired on members of the 12th Cavalry as they patrolled a suburb of Baqouba with Iraqi soldiers. Shots rang out through abandoned streets for about 15 minutes until a Bradley fighting vehicle rumbled in, firing a 25 mm machine gun that thundered through the neighborhood and drove off attackers.
It is unclear how many insurgents have entered the province over the last month. But U.S. officers believe the numbers must be substantial because of the sharp spike in violence.
Last July, U.S. soldiers came under 90 direct fire attacks. According to Col. David W. Sutherland, last month the number of such attacks was up about 70 percent, to 157 attacks.
Lt. Col. Morris Goins, 41, a battalion commander, said his battalion has lost 17 soldiers since it arrived in Iraq in October. Nine of those soldiers were killed in the past 11 days.
The World Link
Wasn't this making the rounds in the blogs about two weeks ago? The MSN really needs to get with the program.
posted by madtom at 12:48 AM
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