Soldiers Committed to the Long-Term Success of Samarra
Samarra, Iraq -- The Task Force 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Soldiers conduct a wide variety of missions in Samarra. Anything from patrols to Civil Affairs missions are fair game for the TF 1-26 Soldiers and they recently were given the added task of making sure the citizens of Samarra observe a curfew.
The curfew policy was recently put into affect in Samarra on Nov. 6. On that day, insurgent forces killed 17 members of the Iraqi Police Force and also detonated two vehicle-born improvised explosive devices, one of which injured the Mayor of Samarra.
After these attacks the Iraqi Government declared a state of emergency in the city and put the citizens on curfew.
"The Anti-Iraqi Forces are still very active in this city," said 2nd Lt. Michael Weisman, B co. TF 1-26 Platoon Leader. "The curfew policy came down from the city council and we're out enforcing it."
The new curfew, which states the citizens of Samarra may only be out of their houses from 8 a.m. to noon every morning, is serving the dual purpose of limiting the amount of foot and vehicle traffic and keeping innocent civilians out of harms way if there is an engagement with the enemy, Weisman said.
"We don't want to have the good people in the city get shot if something happens," Weisman said.
Since the curfew is a recent development in the city, it has been a learning experience for the citizens of Samarra.
"The first few days we were out here, we were going around talking to some of the citizens finding out if they had been informed of the curfew and it turned out that a lot of them hadn't," Weisman said. "We try to get the message out to the people to the best of our abilities."
As expected, some of the citizens are not pleased with the recent curfew.
"A lot of the people we talked to are a little frustrated, there's not a lot you can get done in only four hours, and a lot of them who work outside of the city aren't able to get their jobs, but most of them know it's only temporary and for their own protection," Weisman said.
The various missions of TF 1-26 are important to the long-term success of the city of Samarra because according to Weisman, the city is in bad shape right now and needs to be rebuilt to gain the trust of the citizens.
"It's important to build trust with the local (people) so they will come to us with information on the bad guys," Weisman said. "That'll be the only way to put a stop to the stuff that's been going on in the city lately."
Release #041113b
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