Michael Yon reports from Western Nineveh Province, Iraq
An Iraqi officer near Sinjar told me that recently a group of perhaps twenty “jihadists,” many of them foreign, descended on a Nineveh village. The Iraqi officer said the terrorists killed some adults and two babies. One baby they murdered was 15 days old.
Until recently, such terror attacks inside Iraq could have coerced the village into sheltering Al Qaeda. Yet this time, the “jihadists” got an unexpected reception. Local men grabbed their rifles and poured fire on the demons, slaughtering them. Nineteen terrorists were destroyed. Times have changed for al Qaeda here. Too many Iraqis have decided they are not going to take it anymore. Al Qaeda in Iraq is still fighting, and they are tough and wily, but al Qaeda Central seems to realize there are easier targets elsewhere, perhaps in Europe, where many people demonstrate weakness in the face of terror.
Al Qaeda was apparently not in Iraq before this war, and at the current rate they will not be here when it’s over. The Iraqi Army and Police are doing most of the work these days, but their own operations are significantly augmented by what we bring to the fight.
AFP reports from Basrah
Iraqi security forces fought raging battles with gunmen from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia in Basra on Tuesday amid a crackdown on armed groups in the southern oil city.
At least four people were killed and 18 wounded in the clashes, said police Major Abbas Youssef, as ambulances raced through the streets ferrying the wounded.
British military officials said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was in Basra to personally oversee the major security force sweep in Iraq's second largest city, but that British troops were not taking part.
An AFP correspondent said fighting involving mortars, machine guns and assault weapons erupted soon after the security forces entered the Al-Tamiyah neighbourhood, a bastion of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT). The fighting quickly spread to five other Mahdi Army neighbourhoods.
Television pictures showed Iraqi troops running through the streets firing weapons and taking cover as ambulances raced past. Thick palls of smoke were seen rising above the city's skyline...
Police confirmed the start of the operation, dubbed Saulat al-Fursan (Charge of the Knights) which came after a 10:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew was slapped on the entire Basra province late on Monday.
"We began operations at 5:00 am. There is fighting between security forces and the Mahdi Army," said police spokesman Major Karim al-Zubaidi.
A spokesman for Sadr's office in Basra, Harith al-Athari, told AFP that the Sadrists wanted to end the stand-off.
"The situation is bad and we regret the fighting. We are ready for negotiations and want to calm things," he said...
After touring Basra on Monday, Maliki vowed his governmment would restore order, saying the city was experiencing a "brutal campaign" by internal and external groups targeting members of the scientific and religious communities "and other innocent men and women."
"This is accompanied by the smuggling of oil, weapons and drugs. The outlaws are finding support from within the state and outside. This is why Basra has become a city where civilians cannot even secure their lives and property," Maliki said in a statement.
"That has affected negatively the economic development. The federal Iraqi government... will restore security, stability and enforce law in this city."
Bill Roggio reports from Mosul
In Mosul, the Iraqi Army also lives a dual existence. As the Iraqi Army conducts operations to dismantle the terror networks in the city, it also builds for the future. The 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division seeks to expand its ranks while developing its noncommissioned officers, the backbone of any modern military. This is a difficult task to manage while fighting a brutal insurgency, but a necessary one as a professional army is required to successfully fight an insurgency.
To achieve these goals, the 4th Brigade has recruited its own soldiers, started an in-house training program, and plans to conduct its own training course for its noncommissioned officers.
From the Awakening movement, to the Concerned Local Citizens, to the Iraqi Army and police, Iraqi's are standing up for Iraq and and their own future.
