Odierno: Full surge operation under way

WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The build-up to the Iraq surge is complete and the main push, known as Operation Phantom Thunder, began June 15, a U.S. Army commander said Friday.

"We are beyond a surge of forces, and we are now into a surge of operations," said said Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq.

There are five Army brigade combat teams in Baghdad, each about 3,500 soldiers, operating out of joint security stations with Iraqis police and soldiers, and combat outposts or patrol bases through three of 10 security districts -- Mansour, just west of the Green Zone; Adhamiyah, in the northeastern part of the city, and Rashid, in the south.

"These are the areas where we're seeing the majority of violence inside of Baghdad. These are areas where sectarian fault lines exist, convergence of (al-Qaida in Iraq) and Shiite extremists," Odierno told Pentagon reporters via video teleconference.

A sixth Army brigade combat team, the 1st BCT of the 1st Cavalry Division, is based in Taji, just north of Baghdad. That unit will begin pressing westward in an effort to flush out extremists and trap them against the roughly 2,000 Marines assigned to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit operating south of Lake Tharthar.

Further west in Anbar, two Marine regimental combat teams and an Army BCT are trying to cut off insurgent transit zones into Baghdad.

Four BCTs south of Baghdad last week kicked off operations against al-Qaida "safe havens" along the Tigris River near a place called Arab Jabur.

Odierno said the areas are known for car- and truck-bomb production; there has not been a steady coalition force there for nearly three years.

Across the Tigris southeast of Baghdad another brigade is conducting clearing operations in the largely rural Salman Pak area attempting to block insurgent movement into Baghdad and north to Baqubah.

Three BCTs are conducting operations north and east of Baghdad; a Stryker brigade began an offensive in Baqubah four days ago.

The surge has added 12 battalions -- roughly 900 soldiers each -- and two brigade headquarters inside Baghdad. In Anbar province the surge added roughly three-and-a-half battalions.