To implement this strategy, troops were concentrated in the Baghdad area (at the time, Baghdad accounted for 50% of all the violence in Iraq).[63] Whereas in the past, Coalition forces isolated themselves from Iraqis by living in large forward operating bases far from population centers,[64] troops during the surge lived among the Iraqis, operating from joint security stations (JSSs) located within Baghdad itself and shared with Iraqi security forces.[65] Coalition units were permanently assigned to a given area so that they could build long-term relationships with the local Iraqi population and security forces.[4]