11 April 2005

Iraqi Security Forces Gain Strength

Report to the United Nations regarding state of Iraqi forces

Following is a fact sheet issued by the U.S. delegation to the United Nations April 11 regarding the state of Iraqi security forces:

(begin fact sheet)

USUN PRESS RELEASE
April 11, 2005

FACT SHEET: SITUATION IN IRAQ

Report on behalf of the Multinational Force

Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1546

-- In less than a year, the Iraqi Regular Army and Intervention Forces grew from one operational battalion to 27 operational battalions.  The total number of operational combat battalions is now 80, which includes the units incorporated from the intervention force and the National Guard.

-- Iraq's Navy became operational, with five 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels, and a naval infantry regiment that recently completed training.

-- Iraq's Air Force has three operational squadrons; one additional squadron was stood up in late-January/early February.  They have nine reconnaissance aircraft, a helicopter squadron, and three C-130 transport aircraft.

-- Iraq's Special Operations Forces now include a superb Counter-terrorist Forces and a Commando Battalion, each of which has conducted dozens of successful operations.

-- Iraq's 1st Mechanized Battalion became operational in mid-January, along with a tank company and a transportation battalion; the remaining elements of a mechanized brigade will be trained and equipped by the summer.

-- Iraq's two Military Academies reopened in October 2004 and each graduated a pilot course of new lieutenants, 91 total, in early January.  The new year-long military academy course has already begun.

-- The Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 trained and equipped police officers, up from 26,000 last Summer.  Of the nearly 29,000 police officers who have been trained since then, over 12,000 were former police who underwent three-week transition course training and over 16,000 were new recruits who underwent eight-week basic training.  More than 35,000 additional police are on duty and scheduled for training.

-- Five basic police academies became operational; together, they produce over 3,500 new police officers from the 8-week course each month, a course recently modified to better prepare the new police officers for the challenging environment in which some may serve.  Several other regional academies are under construction.

-- Iraq's Mechanized Police Brigade recently completed training and began operations in mid-January, using fifty BTR-94 wheeled armored vehicles.  One additional Mechanized Police battalion is in training.

-- Nine Police Commando battalions are operational.

-- Nine Public Order Battalions are operational.  Three more battalions will commence training shortly.

-- Iraq's National Police Emergency Response Unit is now operational, and its elements have conducted operations in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Mosul.

-- Iraq's First Special Border Force Battalion is operating on the Syrian border in western Anbar Province; the Second Battalion competed training in February and has begun its deployments, and a third completed training in March.

-- Seven provincial SWAT teams have been trained, two more are in training, and eleven more are scheduled for training by August 2005.

(end fact sheet)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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