Task Force Ninewa pounds ground into northern Iraq to take down al-Qaida

After patrolling through a wadi and searching its caves for evidence of smuggling, scouts from Company C, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion move back toward their vehicles to conduct further Reconnaissance in the area west of Mosul. Task Force Ninewa, the ground-combat element for Operation Defeat Aal-Qaida in the North II, is built around 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (Task Force Highlander). It is comprised of Marines from 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Battalion 2nd Marine Regiment, as well as augments from ANGLICO, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, and other combat assets of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, and now controls the open areas of northern Iraq near Mosul.