Region | Iraq
US unit to leave Baghdad ahead of June 30 deadline
1st US Battalion, headed by Captain Natahan Williams are preparing to pull out of their base in Baghdad's Hurriyah neighbourhood. The battalion of a 150 soldiers will leave their base on May 30, a month ahead of the deadline for all US combat forces to transfer to garrisons outside of the Iraqi capital.
- AP
- Published: 10:12 May 21, 2009
Baghdad: The 1st US Battalion, headed by Captain Natahan Williams are preparing to pull out of their base in Baghdad's Hurriyah neighbourhood. The battalion of a 150 soldiers will leave their base on May 30, a month ahead of the deadline for all US combat forces to transfer to garrisons outside of the Iraqi capital.
They will hand over Hurriyah, scene of vicious Shiite-Sunni fighting three years ago, to an Iraqi battalion that is reputedly among the best in the Iraqi army.
A Pentagon report in January found that as of October, only 17 of the 175 Iraqi combat battalions and two of the 34 National Police battalions could operate on their own.
Nevertheless, the US-Iraqi security agreement requires American combat troops to leave urban areas by June 30 and relocate in huge garrisons on the edge of the cities. The move will be a major step toward the December 31, 2011 deadline for all US troops to leave Iraq.
The months following the pullout from the cities will be a crucial test for both the Iraqis and President Barack Obama's entire Iraq strategy.
In preparation for the transfer, Williams says his soldiers are patrolling Hurriyah much less frequently than before. Their Iraqi army counterparts are increasingly less enthusiastic about joint patrols, preferring instead to grow accustomed to doing things on their own.
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