U.S. military commanders in Iraq have apparently moved all or most of a newly arrived Stryker brigade up to Diyala province to join hundreds of other Fort Lewis Stryker troops fighting insurgents there, according to published reports.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division moved northeast of the capital in response to a commander’s request for more troops in the province, which has seen heavy fighting the past several weeks.
The Fort Lewis-based 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment has been there since mid-March in a shift to deal with insurgents fleeing the U.S. and Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad. The battalion has lost nine soldiers – seven last week – and many more wounded since its move to Diyala.
A memorial ceremony for six soldiers killed May 6 in Baqouba is scheduled for 3 p.m. today at Fort Lewis.
The only news service to report on Caldwell’s remarks about the 4-2 was Agence France-Presse, in a story that moved for Monday’s editions. The service said Caldwell numbered the U.S. troops moving to Diyala at about 3,000.
It wasn’t clear from the news service’s report whether the entire 4th Brigade has moved north to Diyala, but the brigade has nearly 4,000 soldiers.
Brigade officials in Iraq couldn’t be reached Monday evening. Last week a brigade spokesman said it was in the process of completing its arrival into its new operating areas.
Officials earlier said two of the brigade’s three infantry battalions would be tasked out to other units in Baghdad, but that was before Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, the U.S. commander for northern Iraq, told Pentagon reporters Friday that he needed more troops to cope with events in Diyala.
The 4th Brigade left Fort Lewis in April for an anticipated 15-month tour in Iraq. After a couple of weeks of training in Kuwait, it arrived in Baghdad early this month.
The 5-20 has been in Iraq since last June as part of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The brigade is expected to remain there into October.
About 10,000 Fort Lewis troops are currently deployed to Iraq.
Michael Gilbert: 253-597-8921
mike.gilbert@thenewstribune.com
blogs.thenewstribune.com/military
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