Area of Interest, Area of Operations

1. (U) SITUATION.

a. (U) Area of Interest. Insurgent activities have significantly decreased in the areas of AO Lizard and Baghdad; however, the severity of the attacks has gone up. A number of attacks were geared towards AO Lizard's and Baghdad's infrastructure, which significantly affects the electricity and water revenues. East of our Forward Operating Base, is the city of Mosul. Within the last 48 hours, a Suicide VBIED exploded near the INP headquarters in Mosul at 1125 and just three hours later, a Coalition Force soldier was killed by an AIF sniper. The result of the VBIED explosion killed 5 CF soldiers and 2 Iraqi Security Force officers.

b. (U) Area of Operations. Located within AO Lizard is An Nasiriyah. An Nasiriyah is a small village heavenly surrounded by very dense vegetation. An Nasiriyah has a population of 150 inhabitants, predominantly Shiite populace. An Nasiriyah is a male dominated society and 60% of the population is under the age of 24. 97% of its population practice Islamic faith, while only 3% is Christianity. The primary language spoken in An Nasiriyah is Arabic. MSR Little Rock is located to the west of An Nasiriyah, providing an entry for mounted forces into its village. Locate to the North East is Baghdad. Baghdad's location is significant because within the last 48 hours, a suicide bombing took place which killed 33 civilians and left another 10 civilians wounded. While enroute to An Nasiriyah from Balad, we pass Baghdad and may encounter similar attacks. Map, reference (Appendix 2) outlines our COA from Balad to An