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IA takes lead in security for Shabaniyah pilgrimage
Monday, 18 August 2008
People stop at a water point on during a pilgrimage to Karbala for the Shabaniyah festival in celebration of the birthday of Shiite imam Mohammed al Mahdi Aug. 15. (U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Christopher McKenna)
FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq – Iraqi Army Soldiers and Coalition forces provided security, food and water to Iraqis on a pilgrimage to Karbala Aug. 11-18.
“The Iraqi Army is providing security with assistance from the Coalition,” said Pvt. Esam Hussein Fleih, 1st Battalion, 23rd Brigade, 17th Iraqi Army Division. “People have been happy with the way we have been doing the security, and it shows with nothing bad happening during the pilgrimage.”
The pilgrims walked through Mahmudiyah on their way to the religious festival known as Shabaniyah, a celebration of the birthday of Shiite imam Mohammed al Mahdi.
“This year is very good; there are too many Soldiers out on the roads for anything dangerous to happen,” Fleih said. “It is a great combination from both Iraqi Soldiers and American Soldiers.”
In previous years, pilgrimages have been targets for criminal activity, but those threats are at a minimum with the established security in Mahmudiyah.
“The only vehicles allowed on the roads right now are Coalition, Iraqi Security Forces and ambulances,” said Capt. Evan Perperis, from Long Island, N.Y., Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), personnel security detail platoon leader. “Our job is to back up the IA; they are the ones who planned out the security for the pilgrimage.”
The 17th IA Division and 3-320th FA Soldiers are providing security over an approximately 25-kilometer stretch of road, starting in Baghdad.
“I think the IA is doing a very good job,” Perperis said. “So far we are incident free. Mahmudiyah has gone from being known as the Triangle of Death to what it is today ... I think that has a large part to do with the IA.”
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