Operation Clear Area

During Post-invasion Iraq, Operation Clear Area was conducted on the night of 6 December 2003 and was a search and seizure operation utilizing vehicle check points. The checkpoints were set up in Ccentral Iraq, between Ar Rifa`i and Qal`at Sukkar, and operated by elements of the Italian Task Force Dimonious, which included the Italian Army regiments Savoia Cavalleria and Lagunari “Serenissima”, as well as marines from the Italian Navy San Marco Battalion.

The operation seized many automatic weapons, 13 mortar bombs (82 mm), 6 mortar bombs (60 mm) and 6 munitions (37 mm). The local people also provided information on the location of a hidden weapons cache which included: 151 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 53 PG-7 rockets, 38 PG-9 rockets, 1 PG-5 rocket, 1 mortar bomb 82 mm, and 300 kilograms (136 pounds) of explosives.

Followed Operation Bulldog Mammoth, preceded Operation Abilene.