Home » Archives » "Troops move on Baghdad area"

Troops move on Baghdad area

Jan-25-2007 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Attack helicopters pumped rockets at gunmen holed up in office towers and apartment blocks Wednesday, as U.S. and Iraqi forces swept through a notorious Sunni-insurgent enclave in the heart of Baghdad.

Iraqi soldiers and police were joined by elements of the U.S. 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat team, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, for the operation dubbed Tomahawk Strike 11.

The U.S. military said the fighting around Haifa Street was part of a new offensive launched before dawn to disrupt illegal militias and bring the volatile area at the heart of Baghdad under the control of Iraqi security forces.

The attack began within hours after President Bush, in his State of the Union speech, urged Congress to get behind his plan to boost troops and crack down on violence in Baghdad and other volatile areas of Iraq.

The low thud of mortar blasts rocked the capital for hours, and smoke billowed into the sky above Haifa Street, dubbed "Sniper Alley," which U.S. and Iraqi forces have struggled to tame.

It was the second time this month that U.S. and Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents on the commercial and residential street just north of the Green Zone, which is home to the U.S. and British embassies, as well as the Iraqi parliament.

Iraqi officials said the operation was not part of a planned security offensive for the capital but that it would prepare the way for a more concerted ground effort to clear out and hold troubled neighborhoods.


Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements