Ninewa Province

If you remember back a couple of months, it was speculated that Ninewa Province could get handed over to full Iraqi in August. Obviously, that didn't happen. The clearing of Diyala Province had Al Qaeda on the run there, and if you remember Donkey Island, they tried to get back into Anbar Province. That failed miserably and they had to move to another plan. It looks like they had better luck moving into Ninewa Province. Now, operation Lighting Hammer II has been launched and part of it is to address the Al Qaeda in Ninewa, along with Salahadin, Diyala, and Kirkurk Provinces.

Bill Roggio over at The Long War Journal has more.

• The latest operation follows August's Operation Lightning Hammer that focused on al Qaeda’s presence in the Diyala River Valley north of the provincial capital Baqubah. Baqubah itself was cleared of al Qaeda during Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which was launched in June. The Baghdad Security Plan and Phantom Thunder and Phantom Strike operations -- which focused on al Qaeda and the Shia extremist cells in the Baghdad Belts -- have pushed al Qaeda operations into regions in Ninewa, Kirkuk, Salahadin, and Diyala provinces. This rolling series of operations is designed to keep al Qaeda off balance, prevent the terrorists from reorganizing safe havens in new regions, and expanding the security perimeter beyond Baghdad.