BAQOUBA, IRAQ – In the first full day of a major offensive Tuesday in Iraq, thousands of Fort Lewis Stryker troops led the effort to capture or kill an estimated 300 to 500 enemy fighters holed up in the western part of Baqouba.
The plan is to contain and destroy the insurgents in the capital of Diyala province instead of dislodging them and letting them build up strength elsewhere.
“Rather than let the problem export to some other place and then have to fight them again, my goal is to isolate this thing and cordon it off,” said Col. Steve Town-send, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – one of two Stryker brigades from Fort Lewis now in Iraq.
Parts of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – which just deployed from Fort Lewis in April – are also reported to be taking part in the operation. One of the 4th Brigade’s infantry battalions, its field artillery battalion and its cavalry squadron are all reported to be operating in the area northeast of Baghdad in the Tigris River valley on the way to Baqouba.
A Fort Lewis military police unit, the 571st MP Company, is also believed to be in the area.
The newest U.S. operation is called “Arrowhead Ripper,” which borrows from the Arrowhead name of the 3rd Brigade. About 10,000 total U.S. troops are fighting in Diyala province, rivaling the size of the force that American generals sent against the insurgent-held city of Fallujah 21/2 years ago.
U.S. officials said the offensive is expected to last at least 30 to 60 days.
It promises to be a methodical, steady squeeze against fighters from al-Qaida of Mesopotamia, who have fortified their positions and shown no signs of giving in.
Lt. Col. Joseph Davidson, executive officer of the 3rd Brigade, said about 4,000 U.S. combat forces began flushing out insurgents in the western area of Baqouba, a city of about 300,000 roughly 35 miles north of Baghdad. He said insurgents had set up fighting positions across the city, lacing its streets with powerful “deep-buried” bombs capable of destroying U.S. armored vehicles.
In the first 24 hours, Davidson said, U.S. forces killed at least 30 insurgents. The U.S. military reported one soldier was killed and two were wounded during the operation when an explosion occurred near their vehicle.
By the time dawn broke Tuesday, western Baqouba had been cordoned off. Then the American forces established footholds on the periphery and slowly pressed in.
The problem of collaring the al-Qaida fighters is challenging in several respects. Unlike Fallujah, where most of the population fled in advance of the battle, thousands of civilians remain in the western section of the city.
U.S. helicopters dropped leaflets urging residents to stay in their homes. The hope was to keep civilians off the streets while troops began to close in on insurgents. The appeal appeared to have little effect, though, as large groups mingled on the streets and some students even sought to go to the local university.
The presence of so many civilians on an urban battlefield affords the operatives from al-Qaida another possible means to elude their American pursuers. If the insurgents don’t manage to sneak out, some might hide their arms and try to blend with the residents.
To frustrate such plans, the Americans intend to take fingerprints and other biometric data from every resident who seems to be a potential fighter after they and Iraqi forces have gained control of the western side of the city.
The Americans will also test for the presence of explosive material on suspects’ hands.
Officers are hoping that local residents and even former insurgents who have split with al-Qaida might quietly help the American troops pick out insurgents. American troops have already begun to work with more than 100 Iraqis on the eastern side of the city – a group American soldiers have nicknamed the “Kit Carson scouts.”
Since the battle for western Baqouba began, insurgents have carried out a delaying action, employing snipers and engaging U.S. troops in several firefights.
Backing the insurgents into a corner might mean that the Stryker units that are edging their way into the city are in for much tougher fighting ahead.
The insurgents have fortified their position by burying bombs and laying wires that can be triggered from safe houses.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Stryker company tried to blaze a path through a suspected road full of buried bombs by firing a line charge, a cable festooned with explosions. The hope was that the explosion would cut the wires that al-Qaida fighters use to set off the blasts.
After a delay in getting the line charge to detonate, the weapon went off.
There was a resounding thud and the skies over Baqouba were smeared by a spiraling mushroom cloud.
A Stars & Stripes reporter embedded with Commanche Company of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment wrote of more mundane encounters. Families offered soldiers soda, and a group of kids followed them from house to house asking for their sunglasses, their watches and money.
Sgt. Luis Cruz noted that his battalion was originally due back at Fort Lewis by now, before it was extended, along with the rest of the 3rd Brigade, to stay another three months.
“We’re supposed to be home right now, having a victory celebration,” Cruz was quoted as telling Stars & Stripes. “Instead we’re here.
“Right now, we’re beat,” he said. “We’re just smoked from the up tempo. But that’s the nature of the beast.”
The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Stars & Stripes and News Tribune staff writer Michael Gilbert contributed to this report.
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