Posted on 10/02/2006 5:33:55 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Army Soldiers conducted a successful operation aimed at reducing violence in the capital this week.
The operation came just one day after Coalition Forces and Iraqi counterparts thwarted multi-vehicle suicide attack in the International Zone.
During the early-morning raid Oct. 1 in Northeast Sadr City, specially-trained Iraqi Army forces, with Coalition advisers, established a security cordon and quickly gained entry to multiple locations. They were looking for a suspect allegedly involved in the kidnapping, torture and murder of innocent Iraqis.
Iraqi forces quickly detained four persons of interest without incident or injury to them or the 14 women and children present at the locations.
During the operation, Iraqi forces received small-arms fire from multiple ground-level and roof-top locations, and returned controlled fire at identified targets. While departing the objective, they were again engaged by small-arms fire from roof-top locations. Iraqi forces immediately identified the threats and neutralized them with well-aimed, controlled fire.
The joint effort was part of Operation Together Forward, which aims to reduce incidents of sectarian violence in Baghdad, something a top U.S. official here said is currently the No. 1 problem in the capital city.
"I believe that a main part of the violence now is sectarian violence, violence between death squads associated with militias," said U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on CNN television’s “Late Edition" program, according to an Agencereport. France-Presse news
"It is true that the insurgency is still there and targeting us,” he said. “And the terrorists are there, although I believe that al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq are weaker now than they were a while back, and that they are under pressure.
According to the AFP report, Khalilzad also said it’s "plausible" that Sunni-Shia violence could diminish in coming months.
"I believe with the reconciliation program that the [Iraqi] prime minister has put forward, and with the Baghdad security effort that we and the Iraqis are making, it is very plausible in my mind that next year the level of violence will be lower than this year," the ambassador said.
Khalilzad said that the next two months will be critical for the establishment of a functioning civil society in Iraq, according to the news report.
"The government, in the course of the next two months, has to make progress in terms of containing sectarian violence. And the government is working hard," Khalilzad said.
The ambassador added that the situation remains difficult. “I don’t want to sugarcoat it in any way,” he said.
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