RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops set up outposts Sunday in southern parts of Ramadi as part of an operation to establish Iraqi army bases in the country's largest Sunni Arab city and wrest it away from months of insurgent control.
"We are seeing some people leaving, but not an exodus," said Col. Sean MacFarland, commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. "The numbers are in the dozens to hundreds (of families), not anywhere approaching a thousand."
U.S. commanders said there were equal numbers of Iraqi and American troops in several battalions involved in the operation, but no figures of forces were given.
emphasis mine
|