The Roggio Report

The Baghdad Order Of Battle as of May 6, 2007.
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THE MONTH OF APRIL was particularly hard on both U.S. and Iraqi security forces. As both forces push outward from larger, more secure bases, the casualties have increased. Iraqi security forces--both police and army--had over 300 KIA, while over 100 U.S. servicemen were killed in Iraq this past month. The numbers are likely to increase as the surge continues and Iraqi and Coalition guns train on al Qaeda's havens in Diyala province sometime this summer. As al Qaeda continues to conduct its suicide campaign against civilians and Iraqi and Coalition security forces, there has been some tangible progress against the terror group and the Mahdi Army over the past week. Several high value al Qaeda targets were killed in a multi-day operation north of Baghdad, which included the participation of the Anbar Salvation Council. Also, an important tribe turned against al Qaeda in Anbar province.

Inside Baghdad, four of five U.S. combat brigades are now in place. The fifth combat brigade will be arriving in Iraq by the beginning of June. "We are about 80 percent of the way in the implementation of the troops that are flowing in as reinforcements," said Rear Admiral Mark Fox, the Communications Division chief for Strategic Effects. An estimated 60 of the planned 72 Joint Security Stations and
Combat Outposts have now been established inside Baghdad's neighborhoods, and three of the five U.S. combat brigades have joined Iraqi police and soldiers to man the stations. As a result, tips on insurgent activity are up and sectarian violence inside Baghdad has decreased by two-thirds, according to Brigadier General Perry Wiggins, the Deputy Director for regional operations within the Operations Directorate on the Joint Staff.

But al Qaeda still has weapons in its arsenal. "What we have seen [in Baghdad], though, in response has been an increase in the number of car bomb attacks, suicide vests and so forth," said Rear Admiral Fox. "And what you're seeing is an attempt to have these spectacular attacks, you know, on the council of representatives or taking down a bridge or something that grabs the headlines and in many ways, certainly in a lot of circles, will overshadow any of the less spectacular kind of progress that we may be making."

As has been described in Multinational Forces Iraq press conferences, 80 percent of the violence in Iraq occurs in the region within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of Baghdad. This region consists of Baghdad itself plus the "Belt" around Baghdad: Diyala to the northeast, Salam Pak to the southeast, the "Fiya" towns of Northern Babil province to the south, and Abu Ghraib to the east.

Multinational Division Baghdad (MND-B), in conjunction with Iraqi Security Forces, has been working to secure Baghdad. The Baghdad Security Operation has forced a large number of insurgents out of Baghdad proper and into the Belt region, which is now being used by insurgents to stage attacks into Baghdad, largely in the form of human artillery and roadside bombs. To secure this Belt, the Multinational Division Central (MND-C) has been set up. MND-C includes the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters and three brigades--the 2/10 Mountain, 4/25 Infantry, and the 3/3 Infantry. Eventually a fourth brigade--the 2/3 Infantry--and the 3rd CAB will join MND-C by early June. MND-C will work to secure the areas south of Baghdad that have long been a hotbed of insurgent activity--the Fiyas, Abu Ghraib, Salam Pak. Together with the existing and new units in Diyala, (3/1st Cavalry plus the newly added battalions from 3/2 Stryker, 3/82 Airborne and 3/25 Infantry), they will attempt to secure the entire Belt around Baghdad.