An attempt to damage the Mosul Dam was apparently made on Monday.

BAGHDAD -- A truck bomb parked on a bridge connecting two gates of the Mosul dam exploded Monday, killing a security officer, officials said.

The attack on the dam was the latest reminder of militants' intent to undermine major infrastructure projects in Iraq, and highlighted continued instability in the northern province of Nineveh. American military officials acknowledge that insurgents have sought shelter in the north after being driven out of Baghdad and other provinces by major summer military offensives. The bombed bridge connects the right and left shores of the Mosul dam. It has been used by vehicles for the last three decades.

The dam, which is more than 25 years old, was formerly known as the “Saddam Dam.” For obvious reasons the name was changed in 2003. At the time of the American conquest of Iraq, a survey by the US Army Corps of Engineers noted that the dam, which was built on several layers of shale and sand, was suffering from weakness and in danger of collapse, threatening all those living down stream from a wall of water described as being “110 meters high.”

Reconstruction work on the Mosul dam, which was built in the 1980s, has been one of the major projects undertaken with the nearly $20 billion that the U.S. Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction in 2003. The money was a one-time allotment and only about $2 billion is left, making extra costs caused by security breaches especially troublesome, said a U.S. official involved in Iraqi reconstruction work.

Repairs are needed on the dam to keep water at a safe level behind the reservoir, the official said. U.S. engineers have expressed concern about the dam bursting, causing massive flooding as far away as Baghdad, about 225 miles south.

I discussed this danger in late August, citing an earlier VOI report.

A McGraw-Hill Construction report of an inspection done shortly after the conquest by COL. Gregg Martin, commander of the 130th Engineer Battalion, indicates that the dam was functioning well, and the Iraqi engineer on duty, Jassam Hammad Saleh Mahmoud, said that leaks in the dam were being controlled by a system devised by a German-Italian engineering team that injected a grout mixture of bentonite, cement, water and air. The grouting process consumed approximately 50 metric tons of grout per day.

In late 2005 the Corps of Engineers reported that the repairs were under way, and should be completed sometime in 2006.

The driver of the truck stopped the vehicle, pretending it had broken down. Suspicious security personnel decided to confront the driver and he walked away from the truck. After the truck exploded he was captured by other guards.

A truck bomb on top of the roadway is not the best way to destroy a dam.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Thiraa Dilja Bridge

Two Bridges in Anbar

The Bridge War Goes On

Windiyah Bridge Destroyed

Mosul Dam Bomb Attempt

Via the redoubtable Dubhaltach, our first class stringer with Gorilla’s Guides

Diala, Oct 14, (VOI)- Unknown gunmen on Sunday blew up a bridge linking 25 villages to Baaquba, capital city of Diala province, while gunmen deployed in the area following the attack, a security source said.

"An armed group blew up, today at noon, al-Windiyah bridge in al-Salam area, Khalis district," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The source added "the bridge links 25 villages to Baaquba city."

Armed groups blow up bridges to cut off roads leading to their strongholds in order to prevent surprise assaults against them by Iraqi and U.S. forces.

"Gunmen deployed in the area after the attack," the source added.
Baaquba is located 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

I’d be inclined to not put a great deal of faith in the statement about blowing bridges in order to isolate “gunmen” from occupation authorities reprisals because MNF-I has some excellent air assets available, and as we have recently seen MNF-I is as likely to attack suspected resistance fighters by air as by ground forces. The "gunmen" have a need for unhindered mobility, and dropped bridges would impede their movement more than US or Iraqi Army forces.

This is the general area in which a number of civilians were killed and wounded by occupation aircraft on Friday, October 5th.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Thiraa Dilja Bridge

Two Bridges in Anbar

The Bridge War Goes On

Windiyah Bridge Destroyed

Tanker Explosion in Mosul

Mosul, Sept 28, (VOI)- A total of 20 civilians were injured in a tanker bomb explosion near a bridge in western Mosul, while police patrols found another booby-trapped car in the same area, a police source said.

“Twenty civilians were injured, including children and women when a tanker rigged with explosives went off under al-Seha bridge in western Mosul,” the Director of the Ninewa police department Brigadier Abdul Karim al-Juburi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

“The attack destroyed the bridge completely and caused some material damage to nearby vehicles and houses,” he also said.

“Police patrols found another car bomb parked on the main street near the same bridge and detonated it remotely,” he added.

“The car bomb was targeting security forces heading for the blast scene,” the Brigadier explained.

The bridge is located at the western outlet of Mosul and links the main street to the road that lead to Sinjar and Talafar, west of Mosul.

Mosul, capital city of Ninewa province, is 402 km north of Baghdad.

This bridge also happens to be near a large airfield.

UPDATE: Bernhard notes this is a serious strategic challenge. Not quite so much, as you can see in this map cut. The bridge and airfield are at the lower right. If you look westwards you will see the beltway interchange road network. Locate National Route #1. The road immediately above that runs out to Sinjar and Tal Afar. It's now just slightly more complicated to move around.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Thiraa Dilja Bridge

Two Bridges in Anbar

The Bridge War Goes On

Yahoo carried this story yesterday:

About 100 miles west of Anbar's capital city of Ramadi, insurgents blew up two suspension bridges on roads leading to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, a police intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

There has been no further news throughout the day. There has been speculation that the bridges concerned are vital, and CENTCOM and MNF-I have been reluctant to give details.

Aswat al Iraq followed up with this report later yesterday:

Gunmen blew up two bridges on the highway near 160km region west of Ramadi on Friday morning using explosive charges," the source, who preferred not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The operation came one day after a forum convened on reconstructing Anbar, which aimed at reconstructing the province's cities which were partially or totally destroyed during the violent acts," he added.

The second forum on reconstructing the province kicked off yesterday morning [Thursday] with the participation of the two vice presidents, Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul Mahdi, in addition to Burham Saleh and the Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili.

The province's infrastructure was destroyed in armed attacks in 2005.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Burham Saleh said during the forum that a total of 50 million USD had been allocated to compensate those harmed in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, in addition to another 70 million USD for reconstructing the city.

The incident raises to five the number of bridges which have been destroyed on the highway in Anbar since the beginning of 2007.
The 160km region is located in Anbar's desert, 270 km west of Baghdad.

This is interesting news because it shows how desperate the enemy is becoming. In their panic over the report next week to Congress about how well the surge escalation is doing they have begun destroying the bridges they use when they smuggle foreign jihadis into the country.

Or something like that.

A different analysis might be that this is a closing of two major roads connecting Western Iraq with Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Both roads could be considered useful for both logistic and troop and equipment movement, moving - erm – either in or out. Losing these two bridges would impede rapid movement - in either direction.

Some people believe it might be more important to rapidly move people and equipment out rather than in.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Thiraa Dilja Bridge

Two Bridges in Anbar

Thanks to a tip from Bernhard:

Insurgents hit a bridge north of Baghdad on Tuesday, using a suicide bomber at the wheel of an oil tanker truck to destroy the span, plunging cars and people into the canal waters below. Ten people are reported dead and six more missing.

The Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji links Baghdad to Mosul, and was reportedly a strategic asset to the US, which relied on it for supply transport.

The bridge was damaged by a previous attack in May and was only operating with one of its lanes when Tuesday's suicide bomber attacked.

The attacker detonated his payload after going through an Iraqi army checkpoint about 40 yards away from the span, according to the AP.

"The blast, that took place in the middle of the bridge, caused a part of the bridge to collapse," a police source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The explosion set a number of nearby vehicles ablaze," he also said.

The area was cordoned off by Iraqi and US security forces as rescue operations began. The New York Times reports US troops and divers were recovering bodies from the water soon after the explosion.

From the general description in this news article the bridge will be in this area:

Mosul is all the way north, towards the Iraq/Turkey border, as can be seen from this 2003 CIA map:

But still, though the article says it’s a strategic supply link, there are other routes available, and of course we still have quite a lot of air assets over there to supply outflung posts if necessary.

A while back MNF-I had a sort of test-run, I suppose you’d call it:

Iraqi Air Force delivers water, displays proficiency 13th SC(E), LSA ANACONDA PAO

CAMP ADDER, Iraq – Iraqi soldiers got a big boost in national pride and confidence Monday as they watched an Iraqi Air Force C-130 deliver fresh water to Camp Delta.

The fledgling Iraqi Air Force conducted this, its first logistical operation, to provide fresh bottled drinking water while keeping convoys off the uncertain roads.

The aircraft delivered the equivalent of roughly five truck loads of palletized water. This means keeping those trucks and the necessary security trucks that would accompany them off the roadway, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Drushal, support operations officer in charge for the 82nd Sustainment Brigade.

This was a coalition effort. When the Iraqi cargo plane landed at Camp Delta, it was directed to a safe landing by Polish air control operators.

Even if they can't get the hamburgers and chicken breasts through for the Burger Kings and KFC's they'll still get water up there. But the majority of our logistics is still road-bound in massive convoys that can stretch out for a mile, according to some sources. I discussed some of the supply difficulties here, noting that we’re supporting one heck of a non-military overhead.

if the road supply routes were interrupted for some reason (violence being the most obvious) more than water would become scarce. Fresh food would quickly disappear. Most of the larger US bases look like a suburban mall, with Wendy’s or Burger Kings, Kentucky Fried Chicken stores, and even ice cream outlets. Much the same fare is available in the official mess halls, operated by KBR, a division of Mr Cheney’s Halliburton. I certainly don’t begrudge the troops anything, but this sort of home-style sustainment has a portion of the $12 Billion we’re spending each month. These little bits of home are operated and supplied by contractors and our grandchildren will be footing the bill when the Japanese and Chinese ask for payment. The troops could get along on MREs but it wouldn’t quite be the same. Say what you will about MREs, they do provide a balanced, if unexciting diet. The right calories to sustain a soldier in the field, low fat and high protein.

Wikipedia has a nice selection of historical information about Camp Taji for military buffs. Key points:

Camp Taji is now known as one of many United States camps that also house members of the new Iraqi Army and the Iraqi National Guard. Camp Taji is broken up between two Camps that are joined by a joint Iraqi/US gate. The Iraqi side called Camp Tadji is where the Iraqi troops, as well as the Transition Teams live. There is great controversy over the fact that the camp is divided, between "US and them". Much has been written on the subject, but with a simple look at the two camps one can see that there is a great difference in the quality of life on the two sides of the camp. [1]

In September 2004, Camp Taji reportedly boasted the largest PX facilities in Iraq, with Subway, Burger King and Pizza Hut franchises.[2] Although the PX facility is large, it remains poorly stocked in comparison to Baghdad and Balad due to supply issues. Of some 106 bases used by the United States in Iraq, Camp Taji is considered one of 14 "enduring" bases.[3]

The area immediately to the north along the main supply route to Camp Anaconda, an airbase outside of the city of Balad, is now referred to "ambush alley" or "Sudden Death". IED attacks, small arms fire and complex attacks on convoys and patrols remain an almost nightly occurrence.

We’re still in great shape over there. No need to worry as more and more bridges come down. We’ve got al Qaeda on the run.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Thiraa Dilja Bridge

Thanks to a tip from Bernhard:

Insurgents hit a bridge north of Baghdad on Tuesday, using a suicide bomber at the wheel of an oil tanker truck to destroy the span, plunging cars and people into the canal waters below. Ten people are reported dead and six more missing.

The Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji links Baghdad to Mosul, and was reportedly a strategic asset to the US, which relied on it for supply transport.

The bridge was damaged by a previous attack in May and was only operating with one of its lanes when Tuesday's suicide bomber attacked.

The attacker detonated his payload after going through an Iraqi army checkpoint about 40 yards away from the span, according to the AP.

"The blast, that took place in the middle of the bridge, caused a part of the bridge to collapse," a police source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The explosion set a number of nearby vehicles ablaze," he also said.

The area was cordoned off by Iraqi and US security forces as rescue operations began. The New York Times reports US troops and divers were recovering bodies from the water soon after the explosion.

From the general description in this news article the bridge will be in this area:

Mosul is all the way north, towards the Iraq/Turkey border, as can be seen from this 2003 CIA map:

But still, though the article says it’s a strategic supply link, there are other routes available, and of course we still have quite a lot of air assets over there to supply outflung posts if necessary.

A while back MNF-I had a sort of test-run, I suppose you’d call it:

Iraqi Air Force delivers water, displays proficiency 13th SC(E), LSA ANACONDA PAO

CAMP ADDER, Iraq – Iraqi soldiers got a big boost in national pride and confidence Monday as they watched an Iraqi Air Force C-130 deliver fresh water to Camp Delta.

The fledgling Iraqi Air Force conducted this, its first logistical operation, to provide fresh bottled drinking water while keeping convoys off the uncertain roads.

The aircraft delivered the equivalent of roughly five truck loads of palletized water. This means keeping those trucks and the necessary security trucks that would accompany them off the roadway, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Drushal, support operations officer in charge for the 82nd Sustainment Brigade.

This was a coalition effort. When the Iraqi cargo plane landed at Camp Delta, it was directed to a safe landing by Polish air control operators.

Even if they can't get the hamburgers and chicken breasts through for the Burger Kings and KFC's they'll still get water up there. But the majority of our logistics is still road-bound in massive convoys that can stretch out for a mile, according to some sources. I discussed some of the supply difficulties here, noting that we’re supporting one heck of a non-military overhead.

if the road supply routes were interrupted for some reason (violence being the most obvious) more than water would become scarce. Fresh food would quickly disappear. Most of the larger US bases look like a suburban mall, with Wendy’s or Burger Kings, Kentucky Fried Chicken stores, and even ice cream outlets. Much the same fare is available in the official mess halls, operated by KBR, a division of Mr Cheney’s Halliburton. I certainly don’t begrudge the troops anything, but this sort of home-style sustainment has a portion of the $12 Billion we’re spending each month. These little bits of home are operated and supplied by contractors and our grandchildren will be footing the bill when the Japanese and Chinese ask for payment. The troops could get along on MREs but it wouldn’t quite be the same. Say what you will about MREs, they do provide a balanced, if unexciting diet. The right calories to sustain a soldier in the field, low fat and high protein.

Wikipedia has a nice selection of historical information about Camp Taji for military buffs. Key points:

Camp Taji is now known as one of many United States camps that also house members of the new Iraqi Army and the Iraqi National Guard. Camp Taji is broken up between two Camps that are joined by a joint Iraqi/US gate. The Iraqi side called Camp Tadji is where the Iraqi troops, as well as the Transition Teams live. There is great controversy over the fact that the camp is divided, between "US and them". Much has been written on the subject, but with a simple look at the two camps one can see that there is a great difference in the quality of life on the two sides of the camp. [1]

In September 2004, Camp Taji reportedly boasted the largest PX facilities in Iraq, with Subway, Burger King and Pizza Hut franchises.[2] Although the PX facility is large, it remains poorly stocked in comparison to Baghdad and Balad due to supply issues. Of some 106 bases used by the United States in Iraq, Camp Taji is considered one of 14 "enduring" bases.[3]

The area immediately to the north along the main supply route to Camp Anaconda, an airbase outside of the city of Balad, is now referred to "ambush alley" or "Sudden Death". IED attacks, small arms fire and complex attacks on convoys and patrols remain an almost nightly occurrence.

We’re still in great shape over there. No need to worry as more and more bridges come down. We’ve got al Qaeda on the run.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Thiraa Dilja Bridge

Stirling Newberry clarifies the War of the Bridges with a different focus:

A guerilla army must first neutralize the major military force's advantages of logistics, mobility and firepower, immobilize the major military force, it then procedes [sic] to bleed the major military force and finally shatter the brittle points in the major military force's ability to hold territory and critical points. First don't get killed, then fix in place, then put vulnerable points in exposed positions, and then deliver attacks with disproportionate effect. The occupation will end when the potential profits from the occupation are higher than the costs. Even if the major military force is "winning" on the ground, the key is to deny them the profits of occupation against the costs.

Fade-fix-bleed-shatter is the cycle of guerilla strategy. The major military has the inverse doctrine: ICA (Isolate, Concentrate, Annihilate).

The in the case of the guerilla force, one of the most important processes then, is to grind down the […] combat readiness of individual soldiers in the military. Since defeating a guerilla force requires vigilance and attention, fatigue is a powerful weapon. As importantly, the guerilla war cycle constantly tests the judgment of the people involved. Judgment is the mental capacity which is most clearly degraded by fatigue: the ability to rapidly make choices based on the weighing of large numbers of initially uncorrelated perceptions and pieces of information. As judgment of the major military force degrades, its collateral damage increases, its ability to separate the guerilla force from civilian population decre[a]ses, its ability to take advantage of temporary concentrations of guerillas decreases.

In short, judgment is the crucial quality which allows the major military to occupy, isolate, concentrate. The major military must then maintain judgment in the same way it maintains any other crucial form of readiness.

A surge is a term for a temporary increase in power, in military cases, manpower. This means that the present surge is created and maintained by holding forces in country longer, and by speeding up deployment of forces already scheduled to be sent. As with the 2004 surge with the Fallujah campaign, it has been a dismal failure at the military objectives. According the available information, the US has not secured any of Baghdad. The military situation is, still, a complete stalemate. This is because the very objective of the "surge" was counter to basic doctrine: land is not the key objective. Since Baghdad cannot be physically isolated from the rest of Iraq, removing guerillas from one part of the city merely means they can move to some other part.

It his however burning out the capacity of the occupation forces, and as importantly, it is being paid for by the commensurate reduction in Afghanistan. We are fighting two wars in the Middle East, and losing both of them. It is important to remember that Afghanistan has approximately the same population as Iraq. The basic security requirements will take the same amount of manpower, and since the government that was overthrown by the initial invasion was a cohesive political force, in the long term, the need for political change is going to drive security arrangements.

Mr Newberry’s points, especially the economic implications, are well-taken, although I would argue that control of land is essential to a successful occupation. Implicit with that phrase is the concept of controlling the movement of people. This control can be overt: a system of concentric controls: roadblocks, registration tables, document exam points, and the like. These are signs of an oppressive occupation, and the change to this system from a form of open passage can be understood to be an admission of a failing occupation. The recently announced plan to require all Baghdadis (and eventually all Iraqis) to be biometrically registered and issued with an ID card is the most egregious indicator yet of both the Bu$h malAdministration’s failure in Iraq and its original malign intent. The most recent excuse for conquest – the imposition of “democracy” (at the point of the gun barrel) falls into the trash heap of all the other excuses because of this requirement. Free people living under a democracy do not need roadblocks, identity checkpoints, and infallible ID cards. These are the tools of the oppressive occupier and the dictator.

Soldiers engaged in the oppression of occupation are doing the work of policemen and are unable to do the work they should properly be engaged in: the eradication of armed resistance. The (US) policemen that should be occupying are engaged in protecting logistic convoys to supply the troops. These forces are unequal to the task, and are being reinforced by sailors and airmen. The soldiers’ footsteps as they march run away from Army careers will be echoed by sailors and airmen who have been drafted into assignments they did not enlist for. Thus the failed imperial ambitions of a failed administration will create outward spreading ripples engulfing the other services.

The “surge” to gain control of Baghdad has failed. Because of poor planning its avowed purpose, controlling the Sunni resistance, has failed as the resistance leaders and an estimated 80% of the fighters melted away to surface in another province and continue their struggle there. The “surge” has degenerated into as many attacks against the Sadr Army as can be made, along with an unremitting propaganda campaign against Iran, in a foolish attempt to goad that country into precipitate action. After all, a White House befuddled and humiliated by the inability of a military to occupy, a mission it isn’t trained, equipped or qualified for, might as well start another war of conquest in order to quiet domestic criticism.

Mark From Ireland, who has now been appointed Main and Central’s official Daily Bridge Attack stringer, reports that another bridge has been dropped.

Gunmen blow up bridge north of Tikrit Salah al-Din - Voices of Iraq

Tikrit, Aug 9, (VOI) - Unknown gunmen blew up a bridge linking Salah al-Din and Kirkuk provinces on Thursday morning, a police source said.

"Unknown gunmen planted and blew up large amounts of explosives under the Pitrokimiwiat concrete bridge near Makhoul mount, 50 km north of Tikrit, bringing down a large part of the bridge," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The source added, "the 35 km-long bridge linked Salah al-Din province with Kirkuk."

It was built over the Lower Zab River, a tributary of the Tigris.
Tikrit, capital city of Salah al-Din, is 175 km north of Baghdad."

As you can see from the map, the Lower (or Little) Zab is north of Kirkuk and runs to the southwest, joining the Tigris as it turns to the southeast. The red rectangle shows where this bridge should be according to the sketchy information provided by Aswat al-Iraq. This report has not been confirmed by CENTCOM of MNF-I.

Soon it could begin to get harder to move around within Iraq. As roads are closed by downed bridges, vehicular movement will be more predictable.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Mark From Ireland, who has now been appointed Main and Central’s official Daily Bridge Attack stringer, reports that another bridge has been dropped.

Gunmen blow up bridge north of Tikrit Salah al-Din - Voices of Iraq

Tikrit, Aug 9, (VOI) - Unknown gunmen blew up a bridge linking Salah al-Din and Kirkuk provinces on Thursday morning, a police source said.

"Unknown gunmen planted and blew up large amounts of explosives under the Pitrokimiwiat concrete bridge near Makhoul mount, 50 km north of Tikrit, bringing down a large part of the bridge," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The source added, "the 35 km-long bridge linked Salah al-Din province with Kirkuk."

It was built over the Lower Zab River, a tributary of the Tigris.
Tikrit, capital city of Salah al-Din, is 175 km north of Baghdad."

As you can see from the map, the Lower (or Little) Zab is north of Kirkuk and runs to the southwest, joining the Tigris as it turns to the southeast. The red rectangle shows where this bridge should be according to the sketchy information provided by Aswat al-Iraq. This report has not been confirmed by CENTCOM of MNF-I.

Soon it could begin to get harder to move around within Iraq. As roads are closed by downed bridges, vehicular movement will be more predictable.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Pitrokimiwiat Bridge

Bumped and promoted from comments by markfromireland:

Via Aswat al-Iraq

Salah al-Din, Aug 8, (VOI) – Unidentified gunmen blew up a major bridge in Salah al-Din's Yathrib neighborhood, which linked it to Balad district, a local police source said on Wednesday.

"The gunmen detonated a truck bomb on the bridge by remote control, leading the 30-meter long bridge to collapse and causing severe damage to nearby houses," the source said in statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI)

No further details were given by the source.

The Shiite district of Balad is located 110 km north of Baghdad.

The war of the bridges continues, as the insurgents seek to isolate as many communities as possible. As a bonus, these lost bridges also isolate US occupation forces, making reinforcement and supply more difficult.

The above map cuts are dated 2003. It’s unlikely there have been any significant road improvements since then.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

Bumped and promoted from comments by markfromireland:

Via Aswat al-Iraq

Salah al-Din, Aug 8, (VOI) – Unidentified gunmen blew up a major bridge in Salah al-Din's Yathrib neighborhood, which linked it to Balad district, a local police source said on Wednesday.

"The gunmen detonated a truck bomb on the bridge by remote control, leading the 30-meter long bridge to collapse and causing severe damage to nearby houses," the source said in statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI)

No further details were given by the source.

The Shiite district of Balad is located 110 km north of Baghdad.

The war of the bridges continues, as the insurgents seek to isolate as many communities as possible. As a bonus, these lost bridges also isolate US occupation forces, making reinforcement and supply more difficult.

The above map cuts are dated 2003. It’s unlikely there have been any significant road improvements since then.

The War of the Bridges series

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

Balad Bridge

I’ve written a few times about the resistance tactic of destroying bridges. It’s a good tactic in an occupied country where much of the occupier’s forces are stretched thin, and must remain mobile in order to reinforce dispersed units, and to chase the evil al Qaeda and their evil Iranian handlers around the country in an ongoing game of whack-a-mole.

A list of all the bridge attacks is at the end of this article.

Our friend, Dubhaltach of Gorilla’s Guides left a comment on another thread earlier this morning reporting that two more bridges have been dropped.

2 bridges have been blown up in Haqlaniya (there's a fairly big base there)

The Wadi Hajlan bridge is a chokepoint for forces moving between Haditha and Hit.
The Haqlaniya bridge links Haditha to al-Boghdadi

Things in Anbar look like they're about to get (more) difficult again.

I held off on working on this, waiting for a bit more information. There’s precious little to work with, since MNF-I and CENTCOM seem to be a bit bashful about discussing this topic of destroyed bridges. Looking at it from the viewpoint of media management that’s understandable. They’re only interested in broadcasting victories. They have zero interest in discussing actions taken by the resistance that have negative tactical or strategic implications for the US.

Here is the best information available now:

Anbar, Jul 19, (VOI) – Unidentified gunmen simultaneously detonated two bridges in the city of al-Haqlaniya on Thursday, local residents from the Sunni al-Anbar province said.

"Unknown gunmen planted explosive charges under the bridges of al-Haqlaniya and Wadi Hajlan in western Iraq and totally destroyed them at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Al-Haqlaniya bridge, 200 meters long, was one of the most important bridges as it links the city of Haditha, 170 km west of Ramadi, capital of Anbar, to the city of al-Boghdadi, while Hajlan links Haditha to Hit, the witness said.

The bombings did not leave casualties, he said, adding Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops imposed tight security measures in the city afterwards.

If, like me, you’re vague about Iraq geography, here is a map to help you sort out the names. I’ve put it up as a reference rather than including it in this article because you get better resolution clicking the link.

I have no idea where any US Bases are and would be disposed to not advertise their presence on this webage. Dubhaltach may have good information or he may not. I will say it doesn’t seem to make any sense for the resistance to drop bridges that don’t inconvenience US troops.

Other articles about bridge attacks:

The Bridges of Iraq

The War of the Bridges

Another Bridge Attack

Baghdad Bridges Falling Down

The Daily Bridge Attack

All the posts on this site are collected under categories. The largest category is Iraq followed by, I guess, Corrupt Politicians, Bush Administration (yes, I realize they’re the same thing.) It’s beginning to look like it’s time for a new category: Attacked Bridges.

IraqSlogger punches a story this afternoon about another bridge attack, this time in Babil province.

Insurgents bombed a bridge over a major highway in Iraq for the third consecutive day on Tuesday. Bridge bombings have been on the rise in recent months, but this week's attacks indicate a new campaign against key transport routes may have begun.

Tuesday morning's attack partially destroyed a bridge linking the villages of al-Qariya al-Asriyah and al-Rashayed in northern Babil province on the main north-south highway about 35 miles south of Baghdad, and just six miles south of the bridge destroyed on Sunday.

The AP reports local police said about 60% of the bridge was damaged, though cars could still pass over it via one lane. But debris from the blast fell on the main north-south expressway below, further complicating efforts to reopen that main artery, closed after Sunday's blast dropped masses of concrete onto the roadway.

All the posts on this site are collected under categories. The largest category is Iraq followed by, I guess, Corrupt Politicians, Bush Administration (yes, I realize they’re the same thing.) It’s beginning to look like it’s time for a new category: Attacked Bridges.

IraqSlogger punches a story this afternoon about another bridge attack, this time in Babil province.

Insurgents bombed a bridge over a major highway in Iraq for the third consecutive day on Tuesday. Bridge bombings have been on the rise in recent months, but this week's attacks indicate a new campaign against key transport routes may have begun.

Tuesday morning's attack partially destroyed a bridge linking the villages of al-Qariya al-Asriyah and al-Rashayed in northern Babil province on the main north-south highway about 35 miles south of Baghdad, and just six miles south of the bridge destroyed on Sunday.

The AP reports local police said about 60% of the bridge was damaged, though cars could still pass over it via one lane. But debris from the blast fell on the main north-south expressway below, further complicating efforts to reopen that main artery, closed after Sunday's blast dropped masses of concrete onto the roadway.

I missed the McClatchy story about yesterday’s bomb attack against the bridge in Diyala. The military was caught flat-footed, but that’s not surprising. In counter-guerrilla warfare the established force is usually reacting to guerrilla movements.

BAGHDAD - In at least the seventh attack on Iraqi bridges in the past two months, a bomb damaged a bridge over a tributary to the Tigris River on Monday, cutting off the most popular route from the northeastern part of Diyala province to Baghdad.

With the al-Sabtiya Bridge no longer usable, people heading to Baghdad from Diyala will have to travel through the violent city of Baqouba, residents said. Baqouba is the scene of daily clashes between al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents, Shiite Muslim militias and Iraqi security forces.

Eyewitnesses said a truck loaded with explosives moved onto the span and its driver detonated his cargo, sending pieces of the bridge into the water below.

The U.S. military had no immediate information on the bombing, spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Garver said. Garver said bridge bombings didn't greatly "impede the mobility of the military." But bridges are high-profile targets whose destruction affects the lives of civilians, he said.

I’m not an expert on Iraq, nor a specialist in logistics, but I can accept LTC Garver’s statement that these bridge attacks don’t impede the military’s mobility. And I‘m sure that they can ship all the water, food, munitions, POL for vehicles, changes of clothing, new improved tactical vests, etc by air to troops needing resupply, because there are a lot of airfields scattered around Iraq.

Unless we go through another bout of falling helicopters.

If you compare the map I pointed out yesterday in comments [left column: “Map of Iraq”] with this map you’ll see that all US installations are very close to airfields.

Rather than an attempt to isolate US forces or impede their rapid reinforcement, LTC Garver sees the bridge campaign as an attempt to isolate the national government.

If there is a definite campaign against bridges this is an insurgency trying to destabilize the government," he said.

In the past two months, car bombs have targeted at least seven bridges. The attacks began in April with the destruction of the Sarafiya bridge in Baghdad, which connected the east and west banks of the capital.

On May 11, three vehicle bombs detonated on two bridges in south Baghdad and a busy thoroughfare that leads to Taji, north of the capital.

On June 2, bombs severely damaged a bridge that links a highway from Baghdad with the northern city of Kirkuk, forcing traffic headed to Baghdad to pass through Diyala province.

That would be very stable government that has daily bombings and thuggish executions daily on the streets of its capital and can’t secure major sections of the neighborhoods.

It is apparently a part of the official syllabus at the Army Command and Staff College that any military or guerrilla campaign can have only one goal.

Maybe second goals are merely pick-ups.

I missed the McClatchy story about yesterday’s bomb attack against the bridge in Diyala. The military was caught flat-footed, but that’s not surprising. In counter-guerrilla warfare the established force is usually reacting to guerrilla movements.

BAGHDAD - In at least the seventh attack on Iraqi bridges in the past two months, a bomb damaged a bridge over a tributary to the Tigris River on Monday, cutting off the most popular route from the northeastern part of Diyala province to Baghdad.

With the al-Sabtiya Bridge no longer usable, people heading to Baghdad from Diyala will have to travel through the violent city of Baqouba, residents said. Baqouba is the scene of daily clashes between al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents, Shiite Muslim militias and Iraqi security forces.

Eyewitnesses said a truck loaded with explosives moved onto the span and its driver detonated his cargo, sending pieces of the bridge into the water below.

The U.S. military had no immediate information on the bombing, spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Garver said. Garver said bridge bombings didn't greatly "impede the mobility of the military." But bridges are high-profile targets whose destruction affects the lives of civilians, he said.

I’m not an expert on Iraq, nor a specialist in logistics, but I can accept LTC Garver’s statement that these bridge attacks don’t impede the military’s mobility. And I‘m sure that they can ship all the water, food, munitions, POL for vehicles, changes of clothing, new improved tactical vests, etc by air to troops needing resupply, because there are a lot of airfields scattered around Iraq.

Unless we go through another bout of falling helicopters.

If you compare the map I pointed out yesterday in comments [left column: “Map of Iraq”] with this map you’ll see that all US installations are very close to airfields.

Rather than an attempt to isolate US forces or impede their rapid reinforcement, LTC Garver sees the bridge campaign as an attempt to isolate the national government.

If there is a definite campaign against bridges this is an insurgency trying to destabilize the government," he said.

In the past two months, car bombs have targeted at least seven bridges. The attacks began in April with the destruction of the Sarafiya bridge in Baghdad, which connected the east and west banks of the capital.

On May 11, three vehicle bombs detonated on two bridges in south Baghdad and a busy thoroughfare that leads to Taji, north of the capital.

On June 2, bombs severely damaged a bridge that links a highway from Baghdad with the northern city of Kirkuk, forcing traffic headed to Baghdad to pass through Diyala province.

That would be very stable government that has daily bombings and thuggish executions daily on the streets of its capital and can’t secure major sections of the neighborhoods.

It is apparently a part of the official syllabus at the Army Command and Staff College that any military or guerrilla campaign can have only one goal.

Maybe second goals are merely pick-ups.

Yet another bridge in Iraq has come under attack.

MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq - With a thunderous rumble and cloud of dust and smoke, an apparent suicide vehicle bomb brought down a section of highway bridge south of Baghdad on Sunday, wounding several U.S. soldiers guarding the crossing and blocking traffic on Iraq's main north-south artery.

There was no immediate U.S. Army confirmation on the number and severity of the casualties. An Iraqi civilian also was injured, said Donald Campbell, of the private security Armor Group International, who helped in the rescue.

Campbell and others in a passing Armor Group convoy worked with a U.S. Army quick reaction force for some 45 minutes to pull trapped men from the rubble, scrambling over the fallen concrete.

U.S. armored vehicles provided cover fire from their cannons after the bombing, which occurred in the area dubbed the "triangle of death" for its frequent Sunni insurgent attacks.

The blast dropped one of two sections of the "Checkpoint 20" bridge crossing over the north-south expressway, six miles east of Mahmoudiya.

I believe the north-south highway is part of the main logistical routes supplying forces in Baghdad and north of there. It’s going to get harder and harder moving troops, food, water and other essential supplies.

Click here for a larger version.

"When that size blast went off, everyone was in shock," said one of the first atop the rubble, Jackie Smith, 53, of Olathe, Kan., a former lieutenant colonel now working as a civilian Army munitions expert.

He said he saw what he believed was the engine block of a truck — apparently what remained of the suicide vehicle.

Soon the outpost sergeant in charge was organizing a search for his missing men, Smith said. The Armor Group team climbed up with first-aid kits, stretchers and other aid.

With the Army's quick reaction force, they struggled to lift concrete shards off the men, pinned along the slope of what was once a roadway. At one point, a Bradley armored vehicle with a tow chain pulled a slab off a pinned victim to free him.

Then a shout went up, "Morphine! Morphine!" and one of the black T-shirt-clad Britons administered painkiller to the freed man.

"Another poor fellow looked crushed beneath a concrete slab," said Armor Groups Donald Campbell, 40, of Inverness, Scotland.

During the rescue, U.S. armored vehicles opened up with suppressing fire, possibly having spotted movement in the surrounding countryside, flat and baking in 100-degree-plus temperatures.

Traffic was delayed for over an hour until a medevac helicopter landed to take aboard the wounded, and traffic slowly resumed under the remaining section of the span.

Is it just a case of bad nerves when covering vehicles open fire with no apparent sign of attack? And why would it take an hour to get a medevac flight there? It looks to be less than 100 miles.

As COL Pat Lang noted last month, it’s beginning to look like an isolation strategy.

The campaign against the bridges continues in Baghdad. Two more bridges were attacked yesterday. These were across the Diyala River in southeast Baghdad. That makes five bridge attacks so far. Motive remains a question. My "working theory" is that the predominately Sunni insurgents are seeking to impede the "creeping" movement of Shia occupation of the city from east to west. A friend in Baghdad tells me that the "line" dividing the mainly Shia part of the city from the mainly Sunni is moving steadily westward to the disadvantage of the Sunnis. The goal would be a Shia dominated capital city. An alternative theory is that the insurgents are seeking to build impediments to the movement of coalition tactical reserves (QRF). Time will tell.

This attack was against a military target. The route was closed to civilian traffic.

Yet another bridge in Iraq has come under attack.

MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq - With a thunderous rumble and cloud of dust and smoke, an apparent suicide vehicle bomb brought down a section of highway bridge south of Baghdad on Sunday, wounding several U.S. soldiers guarding the crossing and blocking traffic on Iraq's main north-south artery.

There was no immediate U.S. Army confirmation on the number and severity of the casualties. An Iraqi civilian also was injured, said Donald Campbell, of the private security Armor Group International, who helped in the rescue.

Campbell and others in a passing Armor Group convoy worked with a U.S. Army quick reaction force for some 45 minutes to pull trapped men from the rubble, scrambling over the fallen concrete.

U.S. armored vehicles provided cover fire from their cannons after the bombing, which occurred in the area dubbed the "triangle of death" for its frequent Sunni insurgent attacks.

The blast dropped one of two sections of the "Checkpoint 20" bridge crossing over the north-south expressway, six miles east of Mahmoudiya.

I believe the north-south highway is part of the main logistical routes supplying forces in Baghdad and north of there. It’s going to get harder and harder moving troops, food, water and other essential supplies.

Click here for a larger version.

"When that size blast went off, everyone was in shock," said one of the first atop the rubble, Jackie Smith, 53, of Olathe, Kan., a former lieutenant colonel now working as a civilian Army munitions expert.

He said he saw what he believed was the engine block of a truck — apparently what remained of the suicide vehicle.

Soon the outpost sergeant in charge was organizing a search for his missing men, Smith said. The Armor Group team climbed up with first-aid kits, stretchers and other aid.

With the Army's quick reaction force, they struggled to lift concrete shards off the men, pinned along the slope of what was once a roadway. At one point, a Bradley armored vehicle with a tow chain pulled a slab off a pinned victim to free him.

Then a shout went up, "Morphine! Morphine!" and one of the black T-shirt-clad Britons administered painkiller to the freed man.

"Another poor fellow looked crushed beneath a concrete slab," said Armor Groups Donald Campbell, 40, of Inverness, Scotland.

During the rescue, U.S. armored vehicles opened up with suppressing fire, possibly having spotted movement in the surrounding countryside, flat and baking in 100-degree-plus temperatures.

Traffic was delayed for over an hour until a medevac helicopter landed to take aboard the wounded, and traffic slowly resumed under the remaining section of the span.

Is it just a case of bad nerves when covering vehicles open fire with no apparent sign of attack? And why would it take an hour to get a medevac flight there? It looks to be less than 100 miles.

As COL Pat Lang noted last month, it’s beginning to look like an isolation strategy.

The campaign against the bridges continues in Baghdad. Two more bridges were attacked yesterday. These were across the Diyala River in southeast Baghdad. That makes five bridge attacks so far. Motive remains a question. My "working theory" is that the predominately Sunni insurgents are seeking to impede the "creeping" movement of Shia occupation of the city from east to west. A friend in Baghdad tells me that the "line" dividing the mainly Shia part of the city from the mainly Sunni is moving steadily westward to the disadvantage of the Sunnis. The goal would be a Shia dominated capital city. An alternative theory is that the insurgents are seeking to build impediments to the movement of coalition tactical reserves (QRF). Time will tell.

This attack was against a military target. The route was closed to civilian traffic.

Yet another bridge in Iraq has been rendered useless.

KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Insurgents destroyed a major bridge that connects the Iraqi capital Baghdad with the northern cities of Kirkuk and [I]rbil early on Saturday, police said.

Larger version here.

They said the insurgents used explosives to destroy the Sarha Bridge, near the town of Tuz Khurmato on the Chinchal river, some 150 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad. The blast severely damaged the bridge, forcing motorists into detours and traffic jams.

Several bridges have been targeted in Iraq, most notably the popular Sarafiya bridge which was destroyed in April in a truck bombing that sent large sections of the steel structure crashing into the Tigris in central Baghdad.

Many Iraqis believe insurgents target bridges to physically separate Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim areas in central Iraq, but some say the attacks are meant to frustrate people who have to endure time consuming detours into dangerous areas.