Operation Shurta Nasir

Operation Shurta Nasir
Part of Iraq War
The location of Hīt in Iraq, and the Navea Training Center.
Date February 15, 2007 Location Hīt, Iraq Result Decisive Coalition Victory
Belligerents
United States Iraqi Police Forces	Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Mayor Hikat Sergeant Martin Moore	Mohammed Sent
Strength
8 U.S. troops, 18 Iraqi SWATs; about 1,000 U.S. troops encircling	less than 1,000
Casualties and losses
none	several captured, few killed

Operation Shurta Nasir or Operation Police Victory or the Battle of Hīt was an operation led by U.S. troops and Iraqi SWAT teams trying to capture the town of Hīt from Al-Qaeda forces. The goal of the mission was to eject the Al-Qaeda from the city and establish three Police Stations there to cement authority to the town. The Al-Qaeda retreating would be caught in the net of encircling U.S. troops which numbered 1,000 men. The operation was a success, and Hīt was captured and freed from the terrorists.

The trouble with Hīt

Hīt was home to 80,000 people at the time of the Iraq War. The Al-Qaeda took the town, and have been being a preadator on it, implanting IEDs all over the highways that led to Hīt. U.S. troops had been trying to capture Hīt for a long time, but the Al-Qaeda have been unstoppable. The Sheikh Hikat, the leader of Hīt, was very mad about the monkey business that was afoot. He met with Sergeant Martin Moore of the 5th Special Forces Group and Moore came up with an idea called Operation Shurta Nasir, or "Operation Police Victory" named for the Iraqi SWAT teams that would help the U.S. take over the town.

Operation Shurta Nasir

The time has come for the U.S. to take Hīt. 1,000 U.S. troops encircled the town, waiting for the task force of 26 men to force the Al-Qaeda to run into the U.S. net. Mohammed Sent, a wanted Al-Qaeda leader, was in the town with his entourage of Al-Qaeda troops. The task force moved into the town, and they blew their way through locked gates with explosives. The Arabic translator for Moore, Sammy, told the citizens in Arabian to hide and take cover. Then, the U.S. troops moved into a house, and saw two self-proclaimed "College Students". They were really Al-Qaeda, and they were arrested. They would only be fully apprehended when one Police Station was built. 25 Iraqi Policemen and 11 U.S. Marines were sent to reinforce the task force. The U.S. troops moved out, and they engaged the Al-Qaeda in street fighting. Sent escaped the fighting, and took flight. The town was secured, and the retreating Al-Qaeda save for Sent were killed or captured by the net.

Aftermath

With Hīt secure, three Police Stations were built. The IEDs were disarmed, and Hīt was secure. However, there was more fighting to come in later years, and the city was shifted to Iraqi Government hands. The town of Hīt was safe, but Sent was not captured yet. He is still wanted. Later, General David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, walked the streets of Hīt without wearing a helmet or body armor eating ice cream, and wasn't imperaled at all. This proved Hīt's security and safeness.^[1]

See also

2007 in Iraq
Hīt during the Iraq War
List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War
Iraq War
Hīt

References

1. Doyle, Bill: Behind Enemy Lines