Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
RELEASE No. 20080512-07
May 12, 2008

Basra comes back to life
Marine 1stLt. Brian Block 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force MiTT PAO Multi-National Force – West PAO

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – The security environment here has improved dramatically since the 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force fought their way into the city on April 1.
     
Criminal elements had taken over parts of the city from local Iraqi Security Forces, and imposed their own rule on a city that had once been a cultural and commercial beacon for all of Iraq.
     
“This city was being held hostage by a small group of criminal militias,” said Col. Robert F. Castellvi, 1st Iraqi Army (QRF) MiTT senior adviser.
Music and western influence were prohibited, women faced death threats if they ventured outside their homes dressed in anything other than a full burkah, and intersections were used as mortar positions.
     
In less than a month, life in Basra couldn’t be more different. The 1st Iraqi Army (QRF) continues to pursue criminals and outlaws through Basra’s neighborhoods, but as Quick Reaction Force 1, formerly 1st Brigade, moves through neighborhoods like al-Jumhuriya, the sound of gunfire is no longer common.
     
“The people are happier now,” said Maj. Robert S. Washington, 2nd Battalion, QRF-1 military transition team senior adviser. “They can go out; they can go to the markets.”
     
Stores opened early in the morning as the soldiers cleared houses next door, looking for weapons, improvised explosive devices and wanted criminals. Children walked to school past Iraqi Army humvees and posed for pictures with soldiers.
     
During operations in al-Jumhuriya, local citizens volunteered information that led to the arrest of nearly 10suspected local gang members and the discovery of illegal weapons and improvised explosive devices.
     
“[The Iraqi soldiers] are getting a lot of their information by going out and talking to the local civilians,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew S. Weant, 2nd Bn., QRF-1 staff intelligence adviser. “We’ve had people lead us directly to weapons caches and IEDs; even bringing them to us.”

There is more to be done in Basra. With the criminals gone, the Government of Iraq and Coalition forces are working together with local leaders to address issues with sanitation, infrastructure and economy that will provide long-lasting improvements to the quality of life for local residents.

Recently, local officials opened an open-air market in the neighborhood of al-Jameat in an effort to boost the local economy.
 
Local Iraqi Security Forces continue to hold the ground taken by the 1st IA (QRF) to guard against a possible resurgence of the criminals. But, boosted by the confidence of success, they are ready for whatever may happen.

An Iraqi soldier from the 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force stops to talk with a local shopkeeper in the al-Hyyaniyah neighborhood of Basra April 19. The 1st Iraqi Army (QRF) has been conducting clear and search operations in Basra since April 1. They were deployed from al-Anbar Province by the Government of Iraq to bolster local Iraqi Security Forces during Operation Charge of the Knights, the ongoing effort to eliminate criminal gangs and militias in the southern Iraqi city. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Marine 1st Lt. Brian Block)

An Iraqi soldier from Quick Reaction Force 1, 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force poses for a picture with a local boy in the al-Quibla neighborhood of Basra while conducting clear and search operations April 12. The 1st Iraqi Army (QRF) deployed to Basra April 1, and immediately began reinforcing local Iraqi Security Forces in Operation Charge of the Knights, the ongoing Government of Iraq effort to remove criminal gangs and militias from the city of Basra. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Marine 1st Lt. Brian Block)

A local vendor in a public market in the al-Hyyaniyah neighborhood of Basra points while talking to Iraqi soldiers from the 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force April 19. The 1st Iraqi Army (QRF) has been conducting clear and search operations in Basra since arriving in the city April 1. The deployment is part of ongoing efforts by the Government of Iraq to combat criminal gangs and militias that had been operating in the city. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Marine 1st Lt. Brian Block)

An Iraqi soldier from the 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force stands guard next to a group of children in the al-Huteen neighborhood of Basra April 24. The 1st Iraqi Army (QRF) has been conducting clear and search operations in Basra against criminal elements since April 1, when they were deployed from al-Anbar Province by the Government of Iraq. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Marine 1st Lt. Brian Block)

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