FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Iraqi Army Soldiers led the way in Operation Leros, an early morning house and cache clearing operation, Aug. 5, in the Shaka 5 region, resulting in the detention of five personnel.
“We raided the different homes to find caches and to find people on the Iraqi Army’s high value target list,” said IA Maj. Ahmed Majeed, commander of Company D, 3rd Battalion, 31st Brigade, 8th IA Division.
The Soldiers of Company D continue to succeed in joint operations and work hard to establish their unit as a proficient and self-sustainable company.
“It shows the insurgents that we are in charge, not them,” Majeed said. “We have taken back control of the area.”
Soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, helped support the company during the operation through aerial coverage and by providing over watch.
“The purpose of the operation was to act on some intelligence that the IA had received,” said Capt. Norman Stephenson, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. “It also let people in the area know that the Iraqi (Security) Forces are competent and able to secure the area.”
Soldiers from both the IA and U.S. Army met prior to the operation to gather information.
“We did a joint intelligence briefing with the IA, where the (Iraqi intelligence officer and U.S. Army intelligence officer) consolidated information on possible targets and insurgent activity in the area,” Stephenson said. “The IA then came up with a plan of execution on how they wanted to cordon off and search the area for the personnel who were on the wanted list.”
The IA created and led the entire operation, though Coalition forces contributed to the intelligence phase and were present during the operation.
The IA presence in the area is clear, and improvements in the community are visible.
“There are many people coming back into the area, obviously because of improved security,” Stephenson said.