Iraqi Special Forces on the hunt for al Qaeda

By Tim Cocks

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - As U.S. troops gradually curtail combat operations in Iraq, Iraqi soldiers are taking over the task of securing the country -- and for Iraqi special forces, that means hunting down insurgents and militiamen.

There are persistent doubts about Iraqi forces' readiness to take on an insurgency which, although weakened, is far from defeated and can still launch devastating attacks.

"We're absolutely killing them," General Fadel Barwari, commander of the Iraqi Special Operations Force (ISOF), said with more than a hint of aggression, sitting in an office adorned with a stuffed eagle and rows of automatic weapons.

"The insurgents were strong and look at them now. Their power is reduced all over. The special forces are part of that."

The insurgency that has gripped Iraq since 2003 may have waned, but militants still roam Baghdad and northern Iraq. They still target civilians in bloody suicide bombings that have recently killed as many as 60 people in a single attack.

A spike in violence in high-profile attacks in April raised renewed doubts over whether untested forces can handle security when U.S. combat troops withdraw from cities by June 30.

Iraqi forces have made major strides since the initial years after they were disbanded by U.S. officials in 2003, when they were seen as undisciplined, lacking skills and equipment and infiltrated by Shi'ite militias.

In that context, Iraq's two elite special forces brigades -- ISOF and the Iraqi National Counter Terrorism Force (INCTF) -- are increasingly being called in to battle Sunni insurgents or Shi'ite militias.

Between them, they have more than 10,000 soldiers. Often, they partner U.S. Special Forces in joint strikes.

Trained by U.S. Special Forces since 2003, the units have helped break up militant networks, most recently in Diyala province, where pockets of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda hide out.

On April 30, Iraqi special forces with U.S. troops arrested seven suspected militants in Diyala, including a network leader accused of organizing bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings.

"IRON FIST"

At a training exercise around Baghdad, ISOF troops demonstrate their prowess to Fadel and U.S. trainers. Humvees scream into at a hanger where a dummy house is equipped with bullet-absorbent walls to allow the safe firing of live rounds.

Jumping out of vehicles, they storm the house and blast off its front door. Another group shimmies down a rope suspended from the hanger roof to simulate a helicopter exit.

Less than a minute of blazing guns and they're all out -- with a mock hostage rescued and cardboard cutout terrorist that now has multiple bullet holes to the head.