Another ally working alongside the new Iraqi Army.

Iraqi Army soldiers and Macedonian Rangers attached to Multi-National Division – Baghdad, uncovered weapons caches in Baghdad Sept. 9.

While on patrol the Macedonian Rangers discovered a cache north of Baghdad at approximately 2:30 p.m. The weapons included two inert 550 French-manufactured air-to-air missiles and a 185 mm high-explosive projectile.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. soldiers serving with 1st Battalion, 54th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, along with its attached MND – B Military Transition Team, found a cache while on a cordon and search mission in Baghdad’s Mansour district. The cache included five concussion grenades, an RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade, multiple wireless radio communications and monitoring equipment and a Special Groups platoon roster.

“Our Coalition forces partners, the Macedonian Rangers and the Iraqi Army, continue to make a difference every day by removing these weapons from the streets of Baghdad,” said Maj. Mark Cheadle, spokesman, MND-B and the 4th Infantry Division. “Together, we are helping to make Baghdad a safer place by disrupting Special Groups and preventing their attacks on local citizens.”

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Coalition forces captured a suspected senior Special Groups leader Wednesday morning during an operation at Baghdad International Airport.

Intelligence sources report that the captured man is part of the most senior social and operational circles of Special Groups. Most notably, he is believed to be responsible for the planning of the June 24, 2008 bombing of the Sadr City District Advisory Council meeting, where six Iraqis, two U.S. State Department employees and two U.S. service members were killed. Ten other Iraqis were wounded in the blast. The man has been known to travel in and out of Iraq to neighboring nations including Iran and Lebanon, where it is believed he meets and helps run the Iranian-backed Special Groups in Iraq.

In order to maintain the safety and security of the passengers and patrons of the airport, Coalition forces waited for the wanted man’s plane to land, and in cooperation with airport authorities, detained the man without incident.

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In what was once a recruiting hotbed for terrorist and Special Groups elements in northern Baghdad, a pool complex now serves as a spot of relief for residents.

The pool re-opened Aug. 26 as community leaders and residents gathered to celebrate the return of the Al Asafah Pool complex.

The complex was in such a state of disrepair that residents had long stopped patronizing it and squatters had taken up residence there, with some even raising sheep on the pool deck; additionally, the pool hall located inside the main building had become a makeshift recruiting center for extremists.

“One of the first patrols we went on was to go assess this pool,” said Capt. Clint Rusch, fire support officer for Company C, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “In the counter-insurgency environment, this is the enemy’s strong point – the ability to provide necessary services to the populace.”

Major renovations included repairing the outer wall, remodeling shower rooms and refurbishing the concession stand. Once other details were decided upon, a contract was awarded and work began in early March. After hostilities flared up in Sadr City in late March, work halted for five weeks.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official re-opening of the complex, but its doors have been able to remain open for business during refurbishment, collecting about $2 per admission. The accompanying billiards pool hall also remains open and is a popular hangout for residents.

“Our contractor didn’t want to drain the pool completely when kids are still using it, so he was able to set it up so the kids could swim while construction was going on. They were working 24 hours a day on the project,” said the Bloomington, Minn., native.

Attendance at the Al Asafah Pool is up more than eight times what it was during the same time period in 2007.

Once the rainy season begins and the pool is no longer being used, Rusch said the pools will be drained and the tile replaced.

“The perfect end state would be that the project becomes self-sufficient – it doesn’t require any American influence to be able to continue,” he said. He said the pool is already headed in that direction as workers there are able to operate the pumps and are properly cleaning the filters.

“We work hard to satisfy our clients,” said Hader Hameed Majid, the Iraqi contractor who oversaw the $200,000 project, adding that he uses some of his profit margin on each project to give something back.

“I don’t lose anything if I cut a share from my profits and give it here for my country,” Hader said.

Rusch said he hopes that this pool will become a destination much the same as swimming pools serve for American children.

“We want the community to have the ability to experience a part of childhood that every kid should have,” he said.

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Hezbollah is the Iranian front group in Lebanon. They’ve moved into Iraq, due to their superior training ans experience against the Israelis and now are trying to create the fiction that they are a home-grown organization. They are part of the Mahdi Army Special Groups and directed by Iran.

Coalition forces captured a suspected propaganda specialist of the Hezbollah Brigades early Monday morning in the New Baghdad district of Baghdad.

Based on intelligence information, Coalition forces targeted the location of a suspected propaganda expert affiliated with the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq. Information taken from suspected criminals already in custody indicate that the man uploads web sites with imagery and video taken from attacks on Iraqi Security and Coalition forces. Reports indicate this is part of a propaganda effort in order to earn money and support from their Iranian financiers.

Coalition forces entered the targeted individual’s location without incident. Following questioning, the suspect’s wife told forces her husband was the wanted man, after which the man relented and was detained.

Intelligence indicates that Kata’ib Hezbollah or Hezbollah Brigades is an offshoot of Iranian-trained Special Groups.

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Iraqi Special Operations Forces, the Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team and the Baghdad National Emergency Response Unit are playing key roles in the Government of Iraq’s massive campaign to disrupt the criminal elements in the city of Amarah.

With the cooperation of tribal leaders and many of the local citizens, Iraqi Security Forces began setting the foundation to enforce the rule of lawinthe city June 19. ISOF, Hillah SWAT and the Baghdad National ERU conducted several precision operations throughout the city targeting Special Groups criminals and abettors.

According to Iraqi Brig. Gen. Noa’amam Dakeel Jawad, the Iraqi National ERU commander, ISOF and ISF will continue to conduct operations in the area until the citizens of Amarah are safe and free from the criminals in their city.

“The ERU, ISOF and Hillah SWAT have all played a large role on missions of high importance,” he said. “Things have been successful and will continue to be.”

In the past several days, Jawad and his men, along with Hillah SWAT and ISOF, have detained more than 20 individuals on warrants issued by the Ministry of Interior.

The past weeks’ clearing efforts have allowed the Iraqi government to take control of Amarah and work to establish a lasting presence for security and stability. Many Special Groups criminals, particularly the top-level criminals, fled the area to avoid capture.

“So far, there has been little to no retaliation and no innocent [people] have been hurt,” said an ISOF sergeant.

While most of the criminals fled in fear since their operations began, Jawad and his men are still making detainments, finding evidence of criminal activity and recovering criminals’ weapons caches.

In one particular mission, the ERU searched a downtown building believed to be the headquarters for Special Groups. In addition to discovering an apparent torture room containing what were identified as interrogation tools and a large number of anti-Coalition propaganda, they found a large weapons cache consisting of explosively formed projectiles, more than 100 rounds of assorted ammunition, home-made bombs, wire and anti-tank rounds, along with information on methods of attacking Coalition forces’ convoys.

Other successful operations included the detainment of a man reported to be the leader of a criminal cell specializing in sectarian killings and a financier for the organization. The ERU has also detained an Iraqi Police chief who is suspected of being a Special Groups criminal leader, facilitator and financier who has great influence over the IP in the area, as well as a police officer wanted for his involvement with sectarian killings.

According to a local sheikh, Amarah is used as a shipment point for all of the provinces in Iraq and a “warehouse” for weapons and wanted criminals traveling back and forth from Iraq and Iran.

In-depth searches for hidden weapons caches in Amarah by Iraqi Forces yielded approximately seven sites. Estimated finds by ISOF, SWAT, and ERU include roughly 180 lbs. of explosive compounds, 600 anti-tank mines, 280 rocket propelled grenades, 200 various EFP-making materials, more than 1,000 assorted rounds of ammunition, 320 mortar rounds, explosive-making materials and various weapons including more than 80 pieces of sniper equipment.

Citizens are counting on the GoI to continue seizing illegal weapons and weeding out the corrupt officials and criminal elements from their city.

Jawad believes the GoI will be successful and will ultimately turn Amarah into a peaceful community and a better place for its citizens.

When the clearing operations are complete, there will be more opportunities for work, and the youth will be more apt to join the Iraqi Security Forces, said Jawad. With criminals gone, people will prosper from a stimulated economy and improved safety and security.

“I would like all the bad people brought to justice,” said Jawad. “Everyone should be held accountable. The law should be forced on everyone to guarantee the success of the mission for Amarah and all of Iraq.”

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