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| Iraq |
| Operation Lightning Hammer disrupts al-Qaeda in Diyala |
| 2007-08-24 |
| Operation Lightning Hammer concluded Aug. 22 after a 12-day, large-scale operation to disrupt al-Qaeda and other terrorist elements in the Diyala River Valley, a complex area of villages and palm groves in Iraq’s Diyala province. The operation, which involved approximately 16,000 Iraqi and Coalition Forces clearing approximately 50 villages, was a key element in Multinational Corps-Iraq’s overall operation, Phantom Strike; and resulted in 26 al-Qaeda members killed, 37 suspected terrorists detained and the discovery of 10 weapons caches. “The strength and determination of the fighting men and women from the Iraqi and Coalition Forces showed great results during Lightning Hammer,” said Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of Coalition Forces in Diyala province. “We have continued to diminish their supplies and disable al-Qaeda’s abilities to disrupt the population.” Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, partnered with members of the 5th Iraqi Army Division, initiated the operation with a late-night air assault into targeted locations Aug. 13, and conducted an additional three air-assaults during the course of the operation. Residents of most villages welcomed the security forces, providing tips and intelligence about recent activities in their towns; and were interested in joining the Iraqi Security Forces. Following clearing operations, the Iraqi army provided medical assistance and humanitarian aid to the local citizens, many of whom said their villages were recently influenced by al-Qaeda. More importantly, more than 80 tribal leaders and representatives, some of whom had not spoken in over a year, met Aug. 19 to discuss their grievances and swore on the Quran to unite in their fight against terrorists and become one tribe of Diyala. “As I conducted my battlefield circulation and talked with many of the citizens, they repeatedly thanked our Soldiers, but more importantly, their security forces, for liberating their towns from the terrorists – specifically al-Qaeda,” Sutherland said. “Because their villages have been cleared, the local and central governments will now be able to provide those essential services al-Qaeda destroyed; and the people feel a sense of security they have not known for some time.” Throughout the operation, the Task Force Lightning Soldiers also discovered 22 improvised explosive devices, 11 of which were discovered based on tips from a police chief in the river valley; and reduced three house-borne IEDs and six vehicle-borne IEDs, all of which could have been used to harm a large portion of the population or security forces. Additionally, an al-Qaeda command post was discovered in the village of Shadia, and an al-Qaeda medical clinic was located in Qaryat Sunayjiyah. The command post, which was surrounded by fighting positions, contained bed space for 20 individuals, supply requests, records of munitions, a list of families supporting the element, a list of al-Qaeda members detained by Coalition Forces and other terrorist propaganda. “Although we didn’t find many of the terrorists, the operation proved to be a great success because we disrupted al-Qaeda, causing them to run,” Sutherland continued. “Their fear of facing our forces proves that the terrorists know there is no safe haven for them in Diyala. And though this specific operation is over, our fight is not over. We will continue to aggressively target al-Qaeda, and ultimately, they will be brought to justice.” The results of Lightning Hammer cleared the Diyala River Valley of al-Qaeda and allowed Iraqi and Coalition Forces to maintain a permanent presence in Mukeisha, a village in the heart of the river valley area. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Thanks, OP. I hadn't thought about the rat angle. Hopefully their fellow villagers know who they are and convert them to something more useful as they see fit. Anybody know how big these villages are? Seems to me the usefulness of these villages lies in that they are a handy place to fall back to after half their buddies get their a$$es shot off in yet another ambush or failed engagement. It seems the only way that would be handy would be if the residents didn't snitch on them, which could only happen if there were the threat of future reprisals, which would mean there are a bunch of AQ types outside their own village who would come over and kill a bunch of them. This kind of suggests that the operation needed to make these go away would be over a broad area and basically simultaneous, and the residents would have to know if they pointed the bad guys out that nobody would come along the next day to kill them. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-08-24 22:06 |
| #2 Gorb - wrong set of equations. Twenty bad guys can hold from five to ten villages, moving from town to town, getting a couple of snitches in each town. There were probably no more than 150 AQ in the area, and half of those were hangers-on. We killed a little more than a third, and caused another ten to fifteen percent to take to the hills in Syria. They also lost valuable space, something that cannot be made up easily. They're most vulnerable to detection when they're moving around. It will take several YEARS to recoup what they've lost, if given a chance. The idea is to never give them a moment's rest, so there's no chance to recoup lost ground. Eventually, all of Iraq will be a Blue zone, with tiny pinpricks of red here and there, constantly shifting. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-08-24 15:48 |
| #1 OK, 63 bad guys taken out. In 50 villages. That's a little over 1 bad guy/village. If it really takes about 10-20 bad guys to hold each village, that means over 90% got away. What happened to them? Will they be back? |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-08-24 02:15 |