Iraqi Airmen guard the flight line at the new Iraqi-run Al-Muthanna Air Base located on the runway of Baghdad International Airport on July 17. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jonathan F. Doti

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces are increasingly taking the lead in operations as Baghdad becomes the focal point in the fight for Iraq, a Coalition spokesman said in Baghdad Monday.
 
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman for Multi-National Force - Iraq, said in a press conference that Iraqi Soldiers and police are at the forefront of operations "to make their capital safer" and that they are setting the stage for Baghdad to emerge as a center for business and learning.

Insurgents and death squads have blanketed Baghdad with bombings, murders and kidnappings over the past week and a half, seeking to uproot the newly-formed democracy and derail the government.

"Baghdad is the center that everybody is fighting for," he told reporters.

Caldwell noted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's assessment published today in the Wall Street Journal. He  quoted Maliki as writing: "Security plans to quell the violence in Baghdad, the capital and most populous city, face serious challenges that must be overcome. Together, we can and will succeed."

That success, the general said, appears near. Recent tips provided by Baghdad citizens to Iraqi Soldiers and police have led to the capture or killing of insurgents and the foiling of bombing and kidnapping plots.
Such triumphs demonstrate the growing capability of Iraqi security forces, he said, adding that America remains firmly in al-Maliki's camp. Caldwell vowed that U.S. troops will do "whatever it takes" to bring security to Baghdad.

Coalition officials have said the recent murders and kidnappings in and around the capital don't seem to be the work of any one particular group.

"It's been a random of Iraqi personnel that we've picked up that have been associated with death squads," Caldwell said.
He warned that people conducting illegal activities in Baghdad will be arrested.

“Anyone who is conducting activities outside the law obviously we are targeting,” said Caldwell.  

During the past week, Iraqi security forces, working with Coalition forces in support, have intensified operations aimed at quelling the violence. Caldwell said there has been 19 such operations, 17 of them inside Baghdad.

In other developments in Iraq:

•    Coalition forces killed one terrorist, wounded another and detained one associate during a raid north of Balad on the morning of June 24.  Reliable intelligence indicates that the targeted terrorists were associated with numerous senior al-Qaida in Iraq members including two local Emirs. More ...

•    Coalition forces successfully targeted and captured one terrorist and one of his associates during a raid southwest of Abu Guraib July 22.  Clear and compelling evidence led security troops to target a terrorist known to have extensive links to senior al-Qaida in Iraq leaders in the region.  More ...