Sectarian Fears Percolate in an Iraqi Town

BAQUBA, Iraq, June 21 — After two days of clawing their way toward insurgent strongholds in western Baquba, American troops on Thursday began one of the most delicate phases of the operation: reintroducing the city’s residents to their own army.

For the first time since the assault began, Iraqi soldiers joined the operation in significant numbers. What made the task especially complex was that many of the Sunni residents had little trust for the Shiite-dominated army, a message that became clear during Company A’s sweep through the northwestern part of the city.

The Sunnis have bad recent experiences with the Iraqi Army. The commander of Iraq’s Fifth Division, a Shiite, was replaced by the government this year after American officers accused him of pursuing an overtly sectarian agenda by arresting and harassing Sunnis.

In the face of American pressure, the government rearranged its military command here in Diyala Province. But some residents still have unhappy memories of Iraqi soldiers, who they say ransacked their homes when conducting searches and were generally abusive. Feelings are raw.

Many residents say they feel as if they have been caught between fighters from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Shiite militias and an Iraqi security force that they believe looks at them as little more than insurgents’ allies.

“They used bad words against people,” said a young man in the Mufrek neighborhood, referring to the Iraqi Army.

Still, the Iraqis’ role is essential. The nearly 500 Iraqi soldiers who hit the streets on Thursday represent a fraction of the 2,500 American soldiers who are involved in the Baquba operation, but they nonetheless add to a force that is scouring homes and streets for insurgents, arms caches and the seemingly ever-present buried bombs.

More important, the Iraqi forces represent a critical element of the long-term strategy to maintain control of the city. When the Americans eventually pull back from Baquba, there needs to be some kind of Iraqi force in place to prevent the insurgents from filtering back. The Americans have dominated the assault, but it is the Iraqi security forces that must consolidate the gains.

That mission has proved to be a daunting one for the Iraqis in Baghdad, where the policy of “clear, hold, build” has faltered in the past.

Capt. Kevin A. Salge, the commander of Company A for the First Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, led his soldiers on Thursday on a sweep for insurgent fighters in the northwest section of the city. The Iraqi company that joined the operation essentially doubled the number of troops involved.

They also compensated somewhat for the shortage of interpreters that emerged when half of Company A’s translators declined to venture north from Baghdad for this operation.

Mindful of the strained relationship between the residents and the security forces, the American military seeded the Iraqi soldiers in their own units instead of giving them their own sector to clear. The thought was that this would alleviate some of the residents’ concerns and also enable the Americans to exert more control over the Iraqi soldiers.

“The large Sunni areas distrust the I.A. because of the number of Shias that are in the army,” said Sgt. First Class Eric Beck, using the abbreviation for the Iraqi Army. He added that there was a risk that the Iraqi troops would be too harsh on residents if they were not supervised by the Americans

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