U.S. and Iraqi forces control slightly more Baghdad neighborhoods today than they did when the troop surge reached its peak in June, a top commander said Friday.
But the proportion of 474 neighborhoods, called mahalas, that remain uncontrolled, and defended by pockets of insurgents, stands at 16 percent, the same as in June.
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The numbers reflect the tough fighting that lies ahead if the surge is to achieve its main objective: complete control of the capital.
“It’s a mosaic of progress and violence, of accomplishments and frustration,” Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil told reporters at the Pentagon. The two-star officer, who commands the 1st Cavalry Division, said his forces control 56 percent of the city’s ethnically diverse neighborhoods, up from 48 percent in June.
In an indication of how al Qaeda is fiercely defending its few remaining strongholds, Fil said, “We’re in a very tough fight down in east Rashid. … We have reduced al Qaeda down to where they are dug in in several neighborhoods. And the fight continues.”
In June, Fil said of the same east Rashid areas in southern Baghdad, “They are standing and fighting. And we are fully prepared for that.”
He predicted Friday that the number of controlled neighborhoods would swell “well over” the current 56 percent. He said overall bombings, and rocket and small-arms attacks, are down by 50 percent per week, compared with February, when the Baghdad crackdown began.
Fil faces a multifaceted enemy in Baghdad: Sunni insurgents; al Qaeda terrorists; criminals; and Shiite extremists who the U.S. says are funded and trained by Iranian agents.
In June, Fil told of how the enemy was hiding improvised explosive devices in the sewer system. Now, they are molding them in concrete to simulate a roadside curb.
