European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 29, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes Page photos by Drew and stripes troops from company 1st 23rd infantry regiment dash across a Road in bad Cuba during a raid on a mosque believed to be affiliated with documents found inside the mosque later proved this intelligence to be bad Cuba operation moves to next phase iraqi troops have 60 Days to win Over locals and restart Economy by Drew Brown stars and stripes Iraq the cannister hit the ground and spew ing out a huge Cloud of White smoke As and iraqi troops sprinted from behind a mud Brick House to a mosque compound across the once the troops began searching for anything that might link the mosque to Al Aida fight ers or other insurgent intelligence reports had earlier indicated that the mosque was serving As a Haven for enemy forces had already hit the compound with a Preci Sion guided bomb when they launched a massive operation to Clear bad Cuba of insurgents 10 Days the raid was meant to find any evidence that the intelligence had been once the Small group of soldiers from company 1st 23rd infantry regiment and kurdish troops from the 5th iraqi army division began search rifling through look ing through stacks of books and peering into closets for weapons or documents that would confirm the initial after about 20 minutes of an iraqi interpreter the americans Call Cal produced a couple of sheets of paper with Ara Bic the paper warned local residents not to cooperate with the iraqi army or it was signed on behalf of the islamic state of Iraq in Dyala an underground umbrella organization for Al Aida and other insurgent groups in this is exactly what were look ing said Stuart Chap of other documents found at the site included identity ration cards and piece of notebook paper with a sketch of an ak47 Rifle offensives Progress stars and stripes since the beginning of opera Tion Arrowhead As the offensive in bad Cuba is iraqi and american troops have distributed some pounds of Rice and along with to families in the military officials said thursday that some 60 suspected Al Aida fighters had been killed so far in the with 74 suspects to 31 weapons caches have been at least 81 explosive devices have been found and but there was no word on the number that exploded before being the combined Force has also destroyed 18 Boob trapped officials during one Clearing opera the troops found a Ware House in the Khatoon neighbor Hood of the City filled with food that had allegedly been stolen by militants from government food distribution the food was later distributed by the troops to civilians in the the theft and hoarding of these essential supplies by Al Aida is just another example of How that organization seeks to control the population by depriving it of needed Steve commander of 3rd Stryker brigade com Bat 2nd infantry Divi was quoted As iraqi kurdish troops from the 5th iraqi army division kiss and press copies of the quran to their foreheads As they search for documents linking a mosque in bad Cuba to and a Flag of the islamic state of Iraq drawn in a childish other documents identified the mosque As a fundamentalist Branch of islam that is the state religion of saudi Arabia and one to which Many sunni insurgents absent any weapons or insurgents it seemed that the raid produced something of a Jackpot of potential intelligence in were said Luis of that sort of information could prove vital As and iraqi forces move into the next phase of operations in with almost no hostile fire reported in combat operations Are winding the focus of the Effort now is to consolidate control and per Suade local residents to begin co operating with troops and iraqi Security the Overall intent of this phase of the bad Cuba said Issac commander of company is to lock Down the local population and keep pres sure on them until they begin turning in Al Aida and other insurgents who remain in the speaking to reporters earlier this Steve commander of 3rd Stryker Bri Gade combat said about half of the estimated 300 to 500 fighters thought to be in bad Cuba at the beginning of the operation had either fled the City or gone into but according to local Resi most insurgents fled Bayou a two Days before the offensive tipped off by reports on iraqi television that and iraqi government forces were set to begin a massive sweep of the two battalions of troops the 1st 23rd infantry and the 5th 20th infant both part of the 3rd Stryker brigade combat team moved in june 19 to Seal off the Western half of a similar Offen Sive to retake the Eastern half of the City took place earlier this year left scores of enemy fighters and dozens of troops two years the islamic state of Iraq declared the about 40 Kilometres Northeast of to be its fight ing in the City and surrounding areas has worsened since last Jan uary when insurgents flocked into Dyala province after president Bush announced a plan to Send additional forces to secure although fighting to retake bad Cuba proved much easier than the next 60 Days will prove crucial As and iraqi government forces try to win Over the local population and restart the Economy and govern ment one of the biggest challenges has been to provide food to local residents caught in their Homes during the fighting and who have since been prohibited from Leav ing because of a ban on vehicle traffic in the and iraqi government forces have been distributing food and water in differ ent areas of drawing hundreds of hungry residents rations of Rice and flour Are supposed to feed a typical sized iraqi usually around six to eight for three in an interview before the Offen Mick Bednarek said it would take at least 60 Days to secure restart govern ment services and turn Over the Lead Security role to iraqi army and email Drew Brown at