-
Iraq
Italy foils ‘arms for Iraq plot’
-
Baghdad bombings, al Qaeda and the insurgency
The National Intelligence Estimate gets it wrong A map of the Sunni Islamic State from an al Qaeda video. Image from MEMRI. A pair of bombs ripped through a predominately Shia market in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 80 and wounding hundreds. While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the likely culprit is al Qaeda in Iraq. In an effort to dissociate itself as a force promoting civil war and sectarian violence, al Qaeda has ceased to claim credit for brutal attacks against Shia. But it hasn’t ceased the attacks. Today’s bombings in Baghdad bear the hallmarks of…
-
Iraq
Bombs Kill at Least 80 People in Iraq
-
Iraq
A suicide bomber killed 30 in Tikrit. Iraqi security forces killed 6 and detained 36, including an al Qaeda “prince” (or emir). Over 140 were arrested in Baghdad sweeps. The vice-minister of health is ” facing charges of aiding the militia of the Mahdi Army by appointing many of its members in the ministry.”
-
Iraq
Insurgent intelligence
-
Iraq
US army denies reports about helicopter crash in N. Baghdad
-
Iraq
Evidence shown of Iran’s involvement in Iraq chaos
-
Iraq
General: Recent Helo Downings Nothing New
-
Evidence of Iran supplying weapons, expertise to Iraqi insurgents
Military officials provides evidence Iran is supplying EFPs, mortars, other deadly weapons to Iraqi insurgents; Qods forces members in custody Handout photo released by the US military shows an 81mm mortar round believed to be from Iran and found in Baghdad in January 2007. Click photo to view. The U.S. military unveiled the first round of evidence of Iran’s complicity in supplying Iraqi insurgents with sophisticated explosive devices and weaponry. An unnamed military explosive expert and a defense intelligence official, along with Coalition Spokesman Major General Bill Caldwell presented the evidence to the Baghdad press corps this morning. “Iran is…
-
Iraq
Blackout of the Press
-
The Baghdad Order Of Battle
By DJ Elliott, CJ Radin and Bill Roggio The Baghdad Order Of Battle. Click map to view. A crucial component of the new Iraq security plan is securing the capital city of Baghdad. The plan is to split Baghdad into two subcommands (Divisions) east and west of the Tigris River. An Iraqi Army general has assumed command of the overall operation, with U.S. units in support. The U.S. has devoted 9 combat Battalions plus Training Teams and Quick Reaction Forces, about 17,500 troops, to augment the 10 Iraqi Army combat Brigades, 8 Iraqi National Police Brigades and local police forces.…
-
Iraq
The US will release evidence of Iran’s involvement with supplying weapons to Shia groups. Coalition forces killed 10 IED emplacers in Diyala and Salahadin provinces. A US airstrike accidentally killed 5 Kurdish soldiers in Mosul.
-
Iraq
Marines assist in raids on Haditha insurgents
-
Hunting al-Masri; al Qaeda’s Strelas (updated with video)
Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Task Force 145 likely on the trail of al Qaeda leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri; al Qaeda anti-aircraft cells may be using latest version of Strelas The Hunt for al-Masri Coalition forces received a big break yesterday, with the arrest of a close aide to Abu Ayyu al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Masri’s aide was captured at a gas station in Mahmoudiya, a city just south of Baghdad. The unnamed aide met al-Masri within a day of his capture.
-
Iraq
Shiite District, Flash Point in Baghdad, Rebuilds
-
Iraq
Aux armes citoyens
-
Iraq
New Weapon Targeting Copters?
-
Iraq
US troops open Joint Security Station in Doura
-
Iraq
Enemy doubles IED use in Iraq
-
Iraq
Iraqi Special forces arrested “a senior Ministry of Health official… who is suspected of being a central figure in alleged corruption and rogue Jaysh Al-Mahdi infiltration” of the health ministry. Iraqi papers claim the al Qaeda anti-aircraft cells possess Strelas, and the NY Times reports a civilian helo was downed south of Baghdad on January 31st. A Coalition airstrike killed 13 insurgents in Amiriya.
-
Iraq
Surging
-
Deploying the The Snake Eater in Khalidaya
A much needed biometric technology is brought to the battlefield in Khalidaya The Snake Eater in action. Click photo to view. In the middle of January, I embedded with the joint U.S. Marine and U.S. Army Military Transition Team based in Khalidaya in Anbar province. The MTT was then commanded by Major Owen West. Major West’s greatest criticisms of the war effort is our failure to recognize the nature of the insurgency, which in many parts of Iraq is fought by applying what he calls “heavy police tactics,” and our failure in applying the right tools to deal with the…
-
al Qaeda’s anti-aircraft squads
al Qaeda in Iraq is believed to be operating Strela missile teams, courtesy of Iran An AH-64 Apache. Click photo to view. The past three weeks has seen a dramatic increase in the downing of U.S. helicopters operating in central Iraq. Five helos have been shot down since January 20th, four U.S. Army helos and a civilian Blackwater helo. Twenty-six Americans have been killed in the five shoot-downs. The five helicopters lost represents ten percent of all such aircraft lost since Operation Iraqi Freedom began, with fifty total lost. The timing and increase in downed helos is no accident, American…
-
Iraq
Row between US, Egypt over al-Zawra, Iraq’s insurgency TV
-
Iraq
Distant Death Hits Home
-
Iraq
A Marine CH-46 transport helicopter crashed near Karma in Anbar province; seven troops were killed. al Qaeda claims it shot the helo down. Coalition forces captured a senior al Qaeda IED cell leader, and destroyed a safe house near Taji. The Iraqi Army captured an al Qaeda foreign fighter facilitator in Al Qaim.
-
The Surge and the Baghdad Security Operation
A process, not an event Detailed map of Baghdad. Click to view. News that an Iraqi Army brigade and 2,000 American troops have begun an operation in the Sunni dominated neighborhood of Azamiyah has kicked off speculation the Baghdad Security Operation is now underway in full force. Expect the forces to establish one or more Combat Outposts (or COPs) in Azamiyah. But the fact is the operation to stabilize the capital and the surrounding provinces is only in its infancy. Today’s positioning of forces Azamiyah is but one more opening move on the chessboard.
-
Iraq
Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq
-
Iraq
[UPDATE 2] A major offensive is underway in the Sunni dominated Azamiyah neighborhood in Baghdad. Over 2,000 US troops are supporting the Iraqi Army in operations. Nine Iraqis were killed in two carbombings in Baghdad. A combined US and Iraqi operation netted 77 suspected insurgents near Habbaniyah in Anbar province.
-
Iraq
The US military said an Iraqi lawmaker is responsible for the French and US embassies in Kuwait in 2003, and is backed by the Iranian Qods Force. Two members of Sadr’s Mahdi Army have been killed over the past week. An Iranian diplomat was kidnapped in Baghdad. An al Qaeda cell leader was captured; three members were killed, and 26 suspects were detained.
