Soldiers Knock on Old Town's Doors

Multi-National Force - Iraq ^ | Jared Sollars

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A Soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division speaks to an Iraqi child during Operation Warhorse Scimitar in west Mosul, recently. The child was running up and down this alley way giving high-fives to Soldiers. Photo by Jared Sollars, 1st Cavalry Division.

MOSUL — Insurgents thought they'd found a haven in Old Town, this city's oldest neighborhood on the west side.  That was until the Mosul Iraqi National Police Brigade and 1st Cavalry Division Soldiers joined forces recently for an operation designed to conduct an accurate census and deny insurgents and criminals the use of the land.

"Operation Warhorse Scimitar was conducted jointly with Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) on the west side of Mosul, and what we have done not only for this mission, but for the last several months, is we have embedded in the Iraqi Security Force formations and conducted clearing operations throughout the periphery of what is called west Mosul," said 3rd "Warhorse" Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Thomas Cipolla.

The densely populated area of Old Town has seen little security force presence in the past, opening the door for insurgents to operate in and around the region. In planning this operation, one of the highlighted goals was to root out insurgent and criminal activity and establish a permanent presence of security throughout the neighborhoods. This operation lasted 15 days and spanned four of the six distinct neighborhoods of Old Town.

"Old Town is the older part of Mosul. It's densely populated. The streets aren't nearly as well developed [as other areas in Mosul]. The infrastructure is much more underdeveloped as opposed to the rest of Mosul," said Cpt. Jeffrey Hendrix, a company commander with the 8th Cavalry Regiment. "And we were responsible for supporting the Mosul National Police Brigade as they cleared four of the neighborhoods in Old Town."

The Coalition and ISF traversed the narrow alleyways and streets together, clearing 5,780 buildings in four neighborhoods and detaining seven individuals suspected of terrorist activities.

The census conducted during the operation determined who lives and works in the neighborhoods, what insurgents were using the neighborhoods, where they were working and what their plans were.

The ISF conducted the majority of the census and clearing of the neighborhoods, while the U.S. Soldiers provided perimeter security. This handshaking has allowed coalition forces to swap trade secrets with the ISF to help them become more successful in securing their own communities.

"We're actually doing some good with the National Police,” said Staff Sgt. John V. Nightingale, a platoon sergeant with the 1st Cav. Div. “They're catching onto our actions, how we clear houses, how we walk in formation, why we stagger trucks and how we act toward the Iraqi civilians we encounter. They're really starting to catch on.”

The operation as a whole has played a critical role toward the combined efforts to deny sanctuary to insurgent networks that would likely utilize the area for their own operations, and a newly established security presence is beginning to reap rewards.

"We are getting a lot of positive feedback from the neighborhoods [about the operation]," said Hendrix. "We've had a large decrease in significant activities in these neighborhoods. We are working with local Police to continue patrols in these areas and that has been successful. I think that the impact and effect we wanted, we are starting to see."

(By Jared Sollars, 1st Cavalry Division)

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