5,000 U.S. and Iraqi Troops Sweep Into City of Tall Afar

Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry, said Tall Afar's complex demographics would make it difficult to pacify. As many as 75 percent of residents are Sunni Turkmens, many of whom held prominent political and military positions when Iraq was ruled by Hussein. Increasingly threatened by the rise of the country's Shiite-led government, they have clashed with local Shiite Turkmen tribes and with the mostly Shiite and Kurdish security forces deployed to Tall Afar.

The Turkmens' ethnic ties to neighboring Turkey have also complicated matters for U.S. forces. During last year's invasion of Tall Afar, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul threatened to suspend cooperation with the United States on matters related to Iraq.

"The city is basically a microcosm of all the problems, all the divisions that exist in Iraq, in one place," McMaster said.

Soon after arriving four months ago, the 3rd Armored Cavalry reached out to local tribes of Sunni and Shiite Turkmens, encouraging them to bridge their differences and focus their energies against insurgents. The Americans also launched raids in a string of towns ringing Tall Afar, including Afgani to the north, where insurgents were thought to have fled during last year's offensive.

Fighting in the city grew more intense throughout the summer. In May, a car bomb detonated near a Shiite funeral procession, killing at least 15. Insurgents developed more sophisticated defenses against attacks from the air, using a network of cell phone calls to alert gunmen to incoming helicopters. They also used flashlights on the main supply route into the city to signal roadside bombers as convoys approached. At least 13 U.S. soldiers have died here since, including three in the past week.

In recent meetings, McMaster said, tribal leaders implored the Americans to invade Tall Afar again, but this time not to leave so quickly.

"We are trying to learn from the mistakes that have been made here in the past," said McMaster, who takes great pains not to criticize commanders who preceded him here, saying they were handicapped by limited resources and manpower.

McMaster bristled at any comparison between Friday's operation and November's assault in Fallujah, a city roughly the size of Tall Afar but which likely had many more insurgents present when U.S. forces invaded. Despite the fact that many of them were killed, Fallujah became a rallying point for guerrillas, he said, as they blamed the Americans for the destruction of the city.

"I don't want to kill this city, I want to bring it back to life," McMaster said. "We are taking steps to minimize destruction. I want to do it right."

That effort began in full on Friday, as soldiers piled into the back of their Bradley Fighting Vehicles just after 6 a.m. and rumbled onto Tall Afar's eerily quiet streets. Working in squads of 10 to 15, they burst into homes, many of which were abandoned, and interrogated residents whom they did find about insurgent activity. They often leapt from roof to roof to avoid streets they feared were rigged with bombs.

Capt. Noah Hanners, Blue Platoon's commander, interviewed at least two dozen men of military age and checked their names against a blacklist maintained by the regiment. Each man said he was aware that insurgents operated in the neighborhood but did not know who or where they were.

"All we want is to be safe here," said a middle-aged man in a dark gray robe, as his wife and 11 children sat on nearby mats, his wife weeping, his daughter's hands trembling.

"That's what I want, too," Hanners said. "That's why I need your help."