Vital role for the Royal Irish

Vital role for the Royal Irish

Royal Irish troops have seized weapons of the Iraqis

The mechanics of fighting a war are something the members of 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment know only too well.

When the first wave of troops go through, a massive support operation must follow to pick up the pieces and make the area safe for coalition forces and the locals alike.

The Royal Irish soldiers have now taken control of a vast area of southern Iraq stretching across 4,500 square kilometres.

They are pushing out of their positions to patrol and secure the zone and are specially trained to clear areas that are booby-trapped, mined and a danger to the local population.

Their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins, said that so far the operation had been very successful.

"Really now that the Iraqi army has been dealt with, the main tasks that have fallen to us are dealing with the prisoners of war and the detritus of war.

The specialists and the specialist weapons are in very good condition - we have seen very modern weapons

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins
Royal Irish Regiment

"There are a lot of weapons and unused ammunition lying about but our priority is getting Iraq back to work," he said.

"We need the workers to get back to the field and we need the oil workers to get back to their places of work and we need the city workers to get back and get the shops opened again - we need normality returned."

Lt Col Collins said there was a marked difference between the Iraqi infantry and Saddam Hussein's elite forces.

"The ordinary infantry were in poor condition and they were being asked to live in very ropey conditions.

"The specialists and the specialist weapons are in very good condition. We have seen very modern weapons like the Milan anti-tank firing weapon, the Russian made AT4 which is like Milan, and we've seen a number of other artillery pieces all in good working condition and very effective."

Weapons destroyed

The Royal Irish soldiers have now got a short time to make sure the Iraqi weapons are not used again.

We've taken them and fed them as best we can and have given them shelter

Sergeant Major Dougie Beattie
Royal Irish Regiment

Most were taken from the battlefield but some were physically taken from Iraqi soldiers and Bedouin tribesmen.

Sergeant Major Dougie Beattie said the arms were "in reasonably good nick, well oiled and workable".

"Once we have collected them we have to make each weapon safe as best we can. The small arms and ammunition will be decommissioned by taking the working parts out of them and be buried," he said.

"The ordinance such as RPG rounds will be put into a pit and blown up."

Sergeant Major Beattie said many of the prisoners were hungry, beleaguered and barefoot.

"We've taken them and fed them as best we can and have given them shelter."

The prisoners will collected and taken to a larger holding pen over the next 24 hours.

Then it will be time for the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment to move further into Iraq and continue their mission.