Task Force 145’s Greatest Hits

Since late March Task Force 145 has been set loose on Al Qaida in Iraq. Task force 145 is made up of Navy SEALs, U.S. Army Rangers, U.S. Army Delta Force, British SAS commandoes and British "Rangers". The force is finally being used the way it should have been from the beginning of the fight in Iraq. They are conducting lightning raids based on good information and, very importantly, are immediately conducting follow-on raids based on what they have found. In addition, based on the high numbers of killed and wounded terrorists in the raids, they are being conducted with overwhelming firepower and loosened rules of engagement (the lawyers are not running the show).

Some of this is being made possible by better intelligence. I suspect that some Sunni Tribes are dropping the dime on the Jihadis now that some Sunnis are playing a larger role in Iraqi politics. It also could be that the U.S. military is just doing a better job of reporting the raids than they did in the past. However, it appears that much of the increased tempo and effectiveness is due to aggressive leadership, starting with Donald Rumsfeld. This link leads to very interesting Military Times article describing TF 145 and the aggressive leadership.

Set forth below are snippets about the results of the raids. All of this information can be found at the Official Website of the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNFI). Bill Roggio of the Counterterrorism Blog thinks that raids conducted by “Coalition Forces”, without more detailed description of the forces, are TF 145 raids. This position is supported by the fact that the TF 145 raids described in the Military Times article are described at MNFI as raids by “Coalition Forces.”

Lets hope the hits keep coming.

May 23. Coalition Forces killed four terrorists and detained two during operations east of Lake Thar Thar at approximately 5:30 p.m.

May 23. Coalition forces located and killed three al-Qaida associates in the vicinity of Yusifiyah at approximately 7:30 p.m.

May 17. Coalition Forces located and killed six terrorists, detained three and destroyed a safe house and multiple weapons caches in Ramadi during a search.

May 17. Acting on timely intelligence reports, Coalition Forces located and killed two al-Qaida in Baghdad.

May 14. Coalition Forces conducted a coordinated ground and air attack against an enemy safe haven in Yusifiyah, killing more than 25 terrorists, detaining four, destroying three safe houses and a vehicle loaded with weapons and ammunition.

May 13-14. Coalition Forces conducted a series of raids in the vicinity of Latifiyah, killing known terrorist Abu Mustafa and 15 other suspected al-Qaida associates and detaining eight suspects.

May 13. Coalition Forces initiated a raid at approximately 11 a.m. in the vicinity of Julaybah, killing three terrorists, detaining four and destroying enemy hide outs and weapons caches while in search of a wanted al-Qaida so-called Emir.

May 6. Ansar al-Islam member and chemical expert, Ali Wali, was killed at approximately 1 p.m. during a counterterrorist raid in the Mansur district of Baghdad.

May 5. Coalition forces detained five suspects and killed an unknown number of terrorists in a series of raids at approximately 6 p.m. in the vicinity of Samarra.

May 2. Coalition forces killed ten terrorists, three of them wearing suicide vests, and wounded one at approximately 1:30 a.m. at a safe house located approximately 40 kilometers southwest of Balad.

April 29. At approximately 6 p.m., Coalition forces killed two al-Qaida terrorists who were involved in foreign fighter facilitation in the vicinity of Taji.

April 28. Coalition forces killed the al-Qaida “Emir” of Samarra, Hamadi ‘Abd al-Tahki al-Nissani. Based on intelligence reports, they tracked the wanted terrorist and two others to a location north of Samarra. The ground troops also killed the other two armed terrorists inside the house.

April 25. Coalition forces killed 12 terrorists during a raid in Yusifiyah at a safe house associated with foreign terrorists.

April 16. At approximately 2:15 a.m. Coalition forces raided a safe house in Yusifiyah, killing five terrorists and detaining five while searching for a wanted al Qaeda associate.

April 13. Based on actionable intelligence, Coalition forces raided a house in Baghdad at approximately 10:00 p.m., killing one man and detaining three suspects during a search for al Qaeda terrorists.

April 13. Coalition Forces raided a safe house at 4:20 a.m., approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Balad, capturing two and killing two terrorists. One of the terrorists killed was wearing a suicide vest.

April 9. In search of locations for bomb making and storage, Coalition forces killed eight terrorists during a raid April 9 approximately 22 kilometers northwest of Baghdad in the vicinity of Hamaniyah.

April 5. Coalition Forces raided several buildings in Yusifiyah capturing nine terrorists and killing one in a location known for enemy activity and safe houses.

April 1. Three suspected terrorists were captured and three others killed during a Coalition Forces operation in Al Amiriyah, Al Anbar Province, today.

March 27. Coalition and Iraqi forces killed a wanted terrorist, Rafid Ibrahim Fattah aka Abu Umar al Kurdi, during an early morning raid in the vicinity of Abu Ghraib.

March 22. Four al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists were killed when they engaged Coalition Forces during a raid approximately eight miles south of Samarra.