Al Qaida is in Diyala. Operation Arrowhead Ripper is designed to make sure they stay there; permanently. According to Michael Yon who is on the ground with US forces in Baqubah
The enemy in Baqubah is as good as any in Iraq, and better than most. That’s saying a lot. But our guys have been systematically trapping them, and have foiled some big traps set for our guys. I don’t want to say much more about that, but our guys are seriously outsmarting them. Big fights are ahead and we will take serious losses probably, but al Qaeda, unless they find a way to escape, are about to be slaughtered. Nobody is dropping leaflets asking them to surrender. Our guys want to kill them, and that’s the plan.
I like the plan.
Like Fallujah two years ago, turning up the rock al Qaida has been under results in a horrorshow
In the Khatoon neighborhood of Baqouba, ISF and CF discovered a building suspected of being used as a torture chamber. Ground forces observed various weapons, including knives and saws, inside the building as well as blood stains throughout the building. After securing the area, the building and its contents were destroyed by an attack helicopter armed with Hellfire missiles...
Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment discovered the execution house using information from local citizens, who said it had been used by al-Qaida. Soldiers searching the house found five bodies buried in the yard behind the building and bloody clothes in several rooms inside it....
U.S. and Iraqi Army Soldiers discovered an orphanage housing 24 severely malnourished and abused boys in the Baghdad neighborhood of Fajr June 10.
The 24 boys, ages 3 to 15 years old, were found naked in a darkened room without any windows. Many of the children were tied to their beds and were too weak to stand once released.
Fighting and killing the enemy is only half the plan
Combined security forces began providing humanitarian assistance yesterday in Baqubah, Iraq, in addition to combat aimed at rooting out al Qaeda, during the fifth day of the Operation Arrowhead Ripper. Iraqi security forces and the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team delivered three truckloads of rice, flour and school supplies to Baqouba residents. In total, Iraqi soldiers distributed 20,000 pounds of rice and flour, along with 300 cases of water, to an estimated 1,500 Baqouba residents. The provisions were dropped off within 96 hours of beginning combat operations.
“The mission was a success largely due to the compassion of the Iraqi soldiers who led the mission,” said Army Lt. Col. Fred Johnson, deputy commanding officer of the Stryker brigade combat team.
Johnson said the U.S. “soldiers provided outer security, but the Iraqi army and police did the heavy lifting passing out the food and water and also provided local security. I think it's important to note that it was the Iraqi soldiers who first identified the need to provide food to the locals after talking to the citizens about their situation. Many of the locals were especially appreciative because food had been scarce when al Qaeda controlled the neighborhoods."
...at least 55 al-Qaida operatives have been killed, 23 have been detained, 16 weapons caches have been discovered, 28 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 12 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.
And that's just the tally for the Arrowhead Ripper portion of Operation Phantom Thunder which is
...the corps coordinated operation across three theaters in the Baghdad Belts, has completed it seventh day. Ground forces commander Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno gave a briefing on the operation. To date, Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed 159 al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents, wounded 41, and detained 721 suspects. Coalition and Iraqi forces found and destroyed 304 roadside bombs, seven car bombs and 128 weapons caches.
