U.S. troops open Joint Security Station in Doura neighborhood of Baghdad

An Infantry man scans the perimeter at the Joint Security Station in Doura

American and Iraqi forces have opened a Joint Security Station in the Doura neighborhood of Baghdad, pushing forward with a key element of President Bush’s new security plan.

The JSS positions, as they are called, are in the middle of neighborhoods and designed to give ground forces a closer presence in areas of the capital prone to violence.

The Doura station will be manned by the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment — attached to the 1st Cavalry Division — and Iraqi army and police forces.

U.S. military officials called Doura “notorious” and “one of the most dangerous parts of the capital,” and said the JSS represented a continued “focus for coalition forces trying to maintain a peace in the neighborhood.”

The first priority for U.S. troops has been cleaning up the Doura market area, officials said.

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