05 July 2003
Coalition Maintains Steady Course in Rebuilding Iraq
(Summary of recent reports from U.S. Central Command) (1500) Coalition forces continue to make steady progress in working with Iraqi citizens to improve daily life -- despite security threats and continuing pockets of resistance, the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) reports. The following is a summary of Centcom statements and press releases describing some of the Coalition's recent reconstruction efforts and security operations. (begin text) YOUTH CENTER, URBAN CLEAN-UP Baghdad, July 2 -- The Al Mothana Youth Center in Mosul is the focus of the 101st Airborne Division efforts to regenerate youth activity in the town. It was previously occupied and damaged by Saddam Fedeyeen but has now been returned to the Mosul community and will soon feature Olympic parks and an arts and crafts facility. The 3rd Infantry Division's engineers along with local trash collection services removed approximately 1,300 truckloads of garbage from Fallujah area from June 10-29. In Baghdad, the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade distributed 10,000 trash bags to the Abu Deshir community to have local Iraqi residents take part in clean up efforts. COALITION, IRAQI FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE BLAZE TOGETHER Baghdad, July 2 --- Iraqi and Coalition firefighters, along with engineers from the 101st Airborne Division, battled to control a fire at the Misraq State Sulfur Plant, 30 kilometers south of Mosul. The firefighters doused flames and cooled the ground enough to allow the engineer to drive dump trucks and bulldozers close to fire, in an attempt to extinguish the flames with tons of dirt. U. S. Army Col. Benjamin Hodges, commander of the division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, said he estimated the fire will consume the remaining sulfur and burn itself out in a few days. The toxic smoke affected the cities of Qayyarah, Al Shurah and Makhmur, along with approximately 25 surrounding villages, according to an Iraqi cultural adviser. Soldiers evacuated civilians in the vicinity of the fire, as well as areas downwind from the fumes. A shelter was established in Qayyarah for displaced individuals. According to division medical personnel, the sulfuric smoke is a danger to all people, especially to the elderly, asthmatic and young children. The smoke has caused two deaths; an elderly woman and a small child. Many others have shown similar symptoms and were treated by brigade medical personnel. WATER, SECURITY, AND MEDICAL RECORDS Baghdad, July 3 -- Irrigation water in sufficient quantity reached Tala'a, a small village near Al Hillah in southern Iraq, for the first time in three years according to the 304th Civil Affairs Brigade. In the An Najaf area, two hundred one facility protection service guards graduated from security training. Sixty-seven guards will work at oil and gas facilities and 134 will work at hospitals. While in the Fallujah area, Coalition forces transferred authority and responsibility for the security of the power substation to the local police. Coalition forces continued to clean sewer pipes in different cities and towns throughout the country to minimize sewage back up and reduce the chances of a health epidemic. Five septic trucks were provided to Baghdad's Al Schweb neighborhood to relieve a serious emerging sewer problem. Three doctors from Korea Food for the Hungry International (KFHI) and Global Care working with Coalition forces completed the recreation of disabled veterans' medical records. KHALDIYAH MEDICAL CLINIC Al Fallujah, July 4 -- As the rebuilding of Iraq continues, so do the daily missions of supply distribution throughout the country. Hospitals and medical clinics were looted and ransacked during the war are now operating with greater resources than before the fighting began. In 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division's area of operation, greater Fallujah, medical facilities have received supplies and services from the brigade and its task forces on a daily basis. A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, continued the distribution effort July 3 at Khaldiyah Medical Clinic. Part of Task Force 4-64, A Company, 3-7 Infantry, delivered and installed five air-conditioning units, shelving units, waiting room chairs, toilets and washbasins, a safe, and a refrigerator in the clinic. This marked the task force's fourth visit to the clinic. Previous visits included assessments, medical supply distribution and salary arrangements. "Based on what the local residents have said, the clinic has never been as nice as it is now," said Maj. Mark R. Rasins. "A majority of the effort that has been put into the clinic is based on what the people have said they need. "We were able to get two dental examination rooms, complete with chairs, lights and all the fixtures that are necessary to make them fully operational," Rasins said. "(The clinic) hired local contractors and residents to assemble the rooms." The clinic has also received ceiling fans, and 15 fluorescent lights and fixtures, as well as much needed medical and surgical supplies in previous weeks. The reception they receive now is a far cry from that of the first two visits, according to a physician's assistant, U. S. Army 1st Lt. John Frasure. "The first time we came here, we received some very unpleasant looks," he said. "And the second time, (the residents) threw rocks at us." Another area of initial resentment came from doctors at the hospital. "When we pulled up (for the first two visits), patients mobbed us, wanting us to diagnose and treat them --- the doctors just stood and watched this," Frasure said. "We were finally able to convince them that we couldn't provide any better treatment than the Iraqi doctors -- the expertise doesn't vary." As the amenities continue being delivered to the clinic, and with a fully functional generator already in place, the clinic is well on its way to becoming an efficient medical facility, according to Rasins. U. S. Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Dunkleman, intelligence analyst, has provided the handyman skills necessary to install air conditioning units and a new circuit breaker, as well as rewiring electricity throughout the clinic. "I enjoy getting out and doing this for the communities," he said. "Most of the time I get help from the staff and locals." OPERATION SIDEWINDER YIELDS POSITIVE RESULTS Baghdad, July 4 -- The 4th Infantry Division conducted 10 raids in support of Operation Sidewinder in the past 24 hours resulting in nine detained individuals. In a separate event, 4th ID raided a suspected arms market in the vicinity of Balad Ruz. Three Iraqi males, including the store owner were detained. Four rocket-propelled grenade launchers and four rocket-propelled grenade rounds were removed. Additionally, one rocket-propelled grenade, one set of night vision goggles and 227 rounds of various types of ammunition were confiscated elsewhere. Mudhat Aagad Khalaf, a former regime Special Security Officer, turned himself in to a unit of the 4th ID. He was transported to a detention facility for further interrogation. Coalition forces continued aggressive patrols throughout the country over the last 24 hours conducting 20 raids, 1,390 day patrols and 880 night patrols. They also jointly patrolled with Iraqi police conducting 187 day patrols and 148 night patrols. On their own, Iraqi police conducted nine day and eleven night patrols. The total raids and patrols resulted in 226 arrests for various criminal activities including five for murder, eight for car jacking, four for aggravated assault seven for burglary, and 25 for looting. The 3rd Infantry Division held a press conference with the mayor of Fallujah and chief of Police to clarify the origin of the explosion in the vicinity of the mosque. A building in the mosque's courtyard exploded June 30. In his statement, the mayor emphasized the explosion was not a U. S. attack, but Iraqis making explosive devices to be used against Coalition forces. Third Infantry Division soldiers responded to the scene after notification from a U.S. aircraft that spotted the explosion. COALITION FORCES SEIZE ILLEGAL HAUL Basrah, July 4 -- In the early hours of July 4, British Coalition Forces' troops carried out the latest in a string of successful operations against criminal elements in the southern Basrah region, seizing cash and significant quantities of suspected drugs. Acting on information from a local source, soldiers from the 40th Regiment, Royal Artillery, carried out a shock raid on a house in Khor Az Zubayr, in the south of the province. They arrested three suspected drug dealers and seized 33 million Iraqi Dinar, $11,000 (U.S.), forgery equipment, some suspected cannabis resin and two bags of pills. The three men, all brothers, were immediately handed over to the Iraqi police. "This operation shows the commitment of the Coalition Forces to work with the Iraqi people to stamp out criminality and lawlessness," said Lt. Col. Richard Nugee, the commander of the British forces who mounted the raid. The operation comes at the end of a very successful week for the Regiment's soldiers who have also seized a number of road tankers involved in the smuggling of oil, arresting those involved. All those detained are being processed by the Iraqi judicial system. (end text) (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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