The governor of the Salah ad Din Province, Gov. Hamed

The governor of the Salah ad Din Province, Gov. Hamed Shekti, shakes the hand of a shop owner in a Samarra marketplace in January. Marketplaces and business should benefit from the opening of the Fallujah road, which runs from the population centers in the Al Anbar province and the northern-Iraqi city of Samarra. According to Maj. Jim DeOre, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment operations officer, "Opening this road displays to the Iraqis that Iraqi security (ISF) and coalition forces (CF) are making positive gains in their efforts to remove AQI's criminal influence over the people."