Associated Press BAGHDAD: U.S. and Iraqi troops on Tuesday finished two weeks of building-by-building sweeps in a Shiite section of Baghdad that had been wracked with sectarian violence, part of a campaign launched this summer to try and pacify the capital. The north Baghdad neighborhoods of Shaab and Ur have been strong supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, whose main center of power in the Sadr City area is just east of them. In one recent incident in Shaab, Sunni Arab lawmaker Tayseer Al-Mashhadani and her bodyguards were grabbed by Shiite militiamen in the area on July 1 on their way into town to attend a parliament session. The incident stoked tensions between the two major Islamic sects before she was freed unharmed nearly two months later. In another incident, a suicide truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in April in Shaab as worshippers were leaving after evening prayers, killing 10 people and wounding 30 others. When U.S. troops first entered Shaab and Ur on Sept. 14 as part of Operation Together Forward, children threw rocks at them, sometimes in full view of Iraqi forces. The soldiers found posters of Al-Sadr prominently displayed, along with several flowing banners warning Death to the Infidels. But after sweeps of more than 36,000 buildings, including 23 mosques, commanders say the situation is now better under control. Col. Michael Shields, whose 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team provided much of the muscle for the operation, said some of the anti-American violence continues, but that sectarian violence and murders are down. More importantly, this operation reduced the amount of violence in this specific area, Shields said. It increased the perception of security within both Ur and Shaab and set conditions for the Iraqi security forces to work with the (neighborhood councils) to improve essential services for the people. It also helped build more trust and confidence between the people and the Iraqi security forces. Operation Together Forward, a security drive to clear the capital neighborhood by neighborhood was launched this summer after U.S. generals warned escalating sectarian violence was leading toward civil war. Sweeps have been started or completed in about half the neighborhoods of the capital so far. Sadr City, a sprawling slum of some 2 million and stronghold of Al-Sadr s Mahdi Army - the biggest and most dangerous Shiite militia in Iraq - has not yet been entered but will not be avoided, said Iraqi Maj. Gen. Bashar Mahmoud Ayoub, whose 9th Division was involved in the Shaab and Ur operation. Ayoub said he could not comment on what neighborhoods would be targeted next for operational security reasons, but indicated going through Sadr City is part of the plan. All the neighborhoods of Baghdad City are included in this security operation, he said.The operation in Shaab and Ur now goes into the protect and securing phase where raids will continue if needed, but the focus will be on starting projects to improve the infrastructure of the area. Already 135 generators have been distributed to schools and other places requested by the neighborhood councils, and 32 schools have been identified either for renovation or rebuilding, Shields said. I met with locals every day on the street and I would say their number one concern was security, and number two electricity, Shields said. Infrastructure projects include other things like rebuilding sewers, getting water running and restoring other basic services, said Maj. Philip McIntire, who commands a civil affairs company from the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion assigned to the area. Some of it has been left untouched for three years, McIntire, a reservist from Saline, Michigan, told The Associated Press.
