Operation Shurta Nasir or Operation Police Victory or the Battle of Hīt was an operation led by U.S. troops and Iraqi

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

teams trying to capture the town of

Hīt Hīt, also spelled ''Heet'' ( ar, هيت), ancient name ''Is'', is an Iraqi city in Al-Anbar province. Hīt lies northwest of Ramadi, the provincial capital. Straddling the Euphrates River, the city of Hīt was originally a small walled town sur ...

from

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

forces. The goal of the mission was to eject the Al-Qaeda from the city and establish three

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, a ...

s there to cement authority in 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 {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. When

captured the town, they implanted IEDs in the highways leading into Hīt. U.S. troops tried unsuccessfully to capture Hīt; Al-Qaeda was able to defend the town.

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

Hikat, former leader of Hīt, was frustrated by the lack of progress in recapturing the town. He met with Sergeant Martin Moore of the

5th Special Forces Group The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (5th SFG (A)) is one of the most decorated active duty United States Army Special Forces groups in the U.S. armed forces. The 5th SFG (A) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War and played a pivotal role ...

and Moore came up with an idea called Operation Shurta Nasir, or "Operation Police Victory." The operation was named for the Iraqi SWAT teams that would help U.S. troops re-take the town.

Operation Shurta Nasir

When the operation proceeded, 1,000 U.S. troops encircled Hīt, waiting for the task force of 26 men to make Al-Qaeda to run into the U.S. net lurking outside the town. 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 dismantled locked gates with explosives. Sammy, the Arabic translator for Sergeant Moore, told the citizens to hide and take cover. U.S. troops moved into a house, and saw two Al-Qaeda soldiers masquerading as college students. They were arrested, but would only be fully incarcerated when a 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 engaged Al-Qaeda in street fighting. Mohammed 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 shifted to Iraqi Government control. The town of Hīt was safe, but Sent was not captured yet. He was still wanted. Later, General

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...

, the top American commander in Iraq, walked the streets of Hīt without wearing a helmet or body armor while eating ice cream, and wasn't imperiled at all. This proved Hīt's security and safety.Doyle, Bill: ''Behind Enemy Lines''

References

{{coord missing, Iraq Shurta Nasir Shurta Nasir 2007 in Iraq February 2007 events in Iraq