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U.S. to hold off entering Najaf

Apr-19-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

The following article mentions that the 2,500 soldiers involved in the operation near Najaf will be replaced by 2,000 soldiers from the Army's 1st Armored Division. Since the Pentagon announced last week that an unknown number of Strykers had been tasked to the 1st AD, I don't know if they will rotate out of the area or not.

[Link to Full Article]
By Gleb Bryanski

NEAR NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces poised outside Najaf say they will allow time for talks before any attempt to enter the holy Iraqi city to seize a rebel cleric -- a move that could spark new unrest. [...]

[Col. Dana] Pittard [, commander of the 3rd Brigade Task Force,] said his 2,500-strong force would be replaced by around 2,000 1st Armoured Division soldiers in coming days.

The U.S. military, fighting Sunni guerrillas in western Iraq and Sadr's militiamen in Shi'ite areas of the country, has lost more troops in combat in the last three weeks than in the three-week war that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Since March 31, 104 U.S. troops have been killed in action.

Fighting on Saturday killed 10 American soldiers, including five Marines who died in clashes near the Syrian border.

But a senior coalition military official said the 24 hours to Monday morning had been "remarkably" quiet, with no troops killed and the number of attacks down to 21 from an average of around 50 over the last two weeks.

"However, one day does not a trend make," he said.


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