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Operation Rams Begins in Ramadi, December 4

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq - Approximately 100 Iraqi Army Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Division and 400 Soldiers from the 2/28 Brigade Combat Team, launched Operation Rams (Tallie) in Ramadi yesterday.

Operation Rams is the sixth in a series of disruption operations conducted by the Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces in order to neutralize the insurgency and set the conditions for a successful Dec.15 election in the Al Anbar provincial capital city of Ar Ramadi.

As a result of the recent operations, insurgent attacks against Iraqi civilians and both Iraqi and U.S. Forces in the Ramadi area have decreased. The operations targeted areas where semi-autonomous, al-Qaeda in Iraq-led insurgent cells are known to operate. The operations have resulted in the detention of dozens of insurgent cell members and the discovery and subsequent destruction of multiple weapons caches. Unlike recent combat operations in the formerly-held terrorist strongholds of Western Al Anbar, Iraqi and U.S. Forces have met with limited and uncoordinated resistance in Ramadi.

Although the number of attacks in Ramadi by AQI-led insurgents has decreased; insurgents targeting of intellectuals, educators and tribal and political leaders continue, in an effort to intimidate the citizens of Ramadi into not participating in the Dec. 15 election.

More information on the operation will be released as it becomes available.

Source: USMC