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GIs still wary after destroying al-Qaida 'castle'

Nov-27-2007 » Filed Under: 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment

Thanks to Fred for sending the following story.

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

BAGHDAD — The city blocks surrounding Combat Outpost Blackfoot in Baghdad’s volatile East Rashid neighborhood look like a war zone ought to.

Think WWII and Stalingrad. Empty streets filled with debris … buildings with chunks torn out of them by high explosives and pockmarked by bullet holes … household effects scattered by looters … broken glass and twisted metal everywhere.

The outpost stands smack in the middle of one of Baghdad’s bloodiest sectarian divides. On one side of the base there’s an empty Shiite neighborhood. On the other side, an empty Sunni suburb. Most residents were driven out by the fighting that raged until Company E, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment went on an insurgent killing spree, shooting dead or blowing up 50 enemy fighters in September and October.

These days a measure of calm has returned to the deserted streets, and the Army is working to establish regular Iraqi army and Iraqi National Police patrols and checkpoints in the area. But when Company E patrols here, soldiers are alert for snipers, who, until recently, fired on troops the moment the soldiers left the relative safety of the base.

On Wednesday, 3rd Platoon troops and Iraqi army soldiers mounted a patrol through the formerly Shiite parts of the sector.

After linking up with the Iraqi soldiers at the base, they set out on foot, finding homes and streets deserted for several blocks. These were houses where insurgents took cover during previous attacks, so soldiers stayed on their guard.

But it wasn’t long before the patrol reached the edge of the devastation, marked by some children collecting berries from a fruit tree. Soon the soldiers were in a market street surrounded by more children asking for sweets.

[...]

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