Good News From The War On Terror 5/24-5/25
IRAQI ARMY, POLICE DISCOVER UNDERGROUND CACHE
MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi army and police, supported by Coalition Forces, discovered a weapons cache in northern Mosul, located in Nineveh Province, during a planned operation Monday afternoon.
Soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, supported by Iraqi police officers from Northeast 1 station, and CF Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, made the cache discovery, which was concealed under an inoperable toilet.
"This is another example of Iraqi Security Forces' adept efforts to maintain a secure, safe environment for the citizens of Mosul," said Lt. Col. Michael Boden, acting commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
An explosive ordnance disposal team was called to the site as Iraqi police secured the cache which contained three improvised hand grenades, 12 rifles with approximately 3,000 rounds of ammunition, more than 80 rocket-propelled grenades, seven RPG launchers, three dozen mortar rounds, 10 pounds of explosives and one suicide bomber's vest.
The EOD team secured the explosives for safe disposal and the rifles, ammunition and mortars were turned over to ISF.
COALITION FORCES FIND EXPLOSIVES CACHE, DETAIN 15
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces detained 15 suspected terrorists and destroyed a cache of explosives during operations Thursday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Coalition Forces called in an air strike near Salman Pak after they raided a house there and found a cache of mortars, dynamite and jihadist media. They were targeting individuals known to supply foreign fighters to suicide attack cells in Baghdad. A search of the buildings revealed no people were present, and the ground force cordoned off the area, where the explosives were safely destroyed.
Information from successful operations in the last five days led Coalition Forces to three buildings in Karmah, where they targeted an al-Qaeda leader. Near the first target, Coalition Forces found four suspected terrorists hiding outside the building and detained them. In the other buildings, they found six more suspected terrorists. All were detained for their alleged association with a suspected al-Qaeda emir and anti-aircraft attacks.
Coalition Forces raided a building east of Ameriyah while targeting an improvised explosive device cell in the area. Four individuals were detained for their suspected involvement in the cell.
In Mosul, Coalition Forces detained a suspected terrorist who is allegedly the leader of an al-Qaeda group in the area.
GIANT CACHE COMPLEX, EXPLOSIVE FACTORY FOUND DURING SEARCH FOR TROOPS
CAMP STRIKER, IRAQ - Coalition troops searching for the Soldiers captured in the May 12 attack, discovered a huge weapon cache complex and an explosives factory in an isolated area between Iskandariyah and the Euphrates River Friday.
After conducting a company-sized air assault into the area known as the 'fish farms' due to the prevalence of man-made ponds used to harvest fish, Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment (Strikers) discovered the complex of 13 weapons caches and a facility to prepare homemade explosives.
The explosive factory contained approximately 1,000 pounds of homemade explosives stored in grain bags.
The cache complex contained eight 155 mm artillery rounds, three 130 mm artillery rounds, a 120 mm artillery round, 850 mortar fuses, 7 rocket propelled grenade launchers with five sighting assemblies, 34 RPG boosters, 46 RPG warheads, 1000 12.7 mm heavy machine gun rounds, 4000 14.5 mm heavy machine gun rounds, and 200 25 mm anti-tank rounds.
Also found were a 122 mm rocket, 1000 9 mm rounds, six hand grenade fuses, 17 fragmentary hand grenades, 205 30 mm anti-aircraft artillery rounds, 60 57 mm anti-aircraft artillery rounds, two 2.75 mm rockets, 215 blasting caps, 1000 small arms ammunition primers, 500 shotgun rounds, 1000 feet of detonation cord, 7400 7.62 mm machine gun rounds, a 40 mm high explosive grenade, various small arms and sub machine gun magazines, eight pre-cut lengths of wire (presumably used as IED initiators) and five former regime Iraqi army helmets.
After processing the site for evidence relating to the missing Soldiers, the caches were destroyed by explosive ordnance personnel. In other developments, the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division detained 22 individuals believed to have information in the attacks.
This air assault was the 35th conducted by 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division since May 12.
IRAQI ARMY FINDS WEAPONS CACHES NEAR ABU GHRAIB
CAMP TAJI, Iraq - Two Iraqi Army battalions found several weapons caches near Abu Ghraib, Iraq May 23.
During a combined cordon and search in Abu Ghraib's Mencia area, troops from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division discovered caches near an apartment complex and in an abandoned house.The caches yielded six mortar rounds, ten AK-47 assault rifles, three PKC sniper rifles, six hand grenades, several explosives, six rocket-propelled grenade rockets, three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 10 improvised explosive devices and numerous IED-making materials.
In a subsequent search on the same day, troops from the 3rd Bn., 3rd Bde., 6th IA Div., working off tips from a concerned Iraqi citizen, found an AK-47, two PKC sniper rifles and a box of PKC ammunition in a vehicle.
Iraqi Security Forces are investigating to find those responsible for the caches.
SEVEN HOSTAGES RESCUED IN BAQOUBA
AQUBAH, Iraq - During a three-day operation in Chibernat, a village north of Baqouba, Iraqi and Coalition Forces rescued seven kidnapped victims Wednesday; and discovered more than 10 caches, reduced nine improvised explosive devices and detained 11 suspected insurgents throughout the course of the operation. Soldiers from 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division; and 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted the target-driven operation to eliminate the insurgents' perceived safe havens throughout the area and secure the population of Chibernat.
"We continue to aggressively target the enemy, destroying the insurgents' perceived power base and depleting their supplies," said Col. David W. Sutherland, 3-1 Cav. commander and senior U.S. Army officer in Diyala. "They offer nothing but death and destruction, and will be brought to justice."
While clearing the neighborhood, Soldiers from Company B, 5-20 Inf. Regt., rescued seven local residents, to include an Iraqi Police captain, who were been held hostage.
As the Soldiers conducted a cordon and search, they entered a house, discovering the seven hostages in a room which was locked from the outside. Approximately 100 meters from the house, the Security Forces discovered nine civilians who were killed prior to their arrival.
The freed hostages were taken to the Provincial Joint Coordination Center to provide a detailed account of their experience. According to the victims, who were taken from Muqdadiya, Balad Ruz and Baqouba, insurgents associated with the Islamic State of Iraq were responsible for their kidnapping and the killing of the other nine citizens in the house.
During an interview, the freed hostages said if the Soldiers would have arrived "an hour later," they would have been killed by the terrorists.
Also during the cordon and search, the security forces unearthed 11 weapons caches to include rocket-propelled grenade munitions, small-arms weapon systems, approximately 200 loaded AK-47 magazines, IED-making materials, grenades, mortar rounds, and a suicide vest and belt.
The detainees were transferred to a facility for further questioning.
AFGHAN BORDER POLICE DETAIN NANGARHAR TALIBAN LEADER
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Afghan Border Police, advised by Coalition forces, detained a Taliban leader in the Pachir Wa Agam district of Nangarhar province during an operation May 24.
After receiving information on the whereabouts of Sayed Gulab, a notorious Nangarhar Taliban area commander and improvised explosive device cell facilitator, ABP members quickly moved to the village of Shir Wagan and detained him. Gulab is currently being held for questioning in a Coalition detention facility.
No Afghan civilians or ABP members were injured during the successful operation.
Gulab has been responsible for emplacing IED’s in the Pachir Wa Agam district resulting in the injuries and deaths of innocent Afghan civilians and Afghan National Security Forces. He is also known to have extensive connections with other senior Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership in Nangarhar and Pakistan.
IRAQI SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES KILL INSURGENT COMMANDER
BALAD - Iraqi Special Operation Forces and Coalition Forces killed Wisam Abd Adbul, also known as Wisam Abu Qadir, the suspected commander of the militia group Jaysh al-Madhi (JAM) in Basrah and his bodyguard while attempting to detain him on May 25.
ISOF and Coalition Forces were manning a vehicle checkpoint when the targeted individual's vehicle approached the checkpoint. Despite signals to pull over, the targeted subject failed to do so. The ISOF fired warning rounds to disable the vehicle, but the vehicle sped forward for another 800 meters. Three individuals then exited the vehicle and aimed weapons at ISOF and Coalition Forces. The ISOF took appropriate self-defense measures, engaging two of the insurgents and killing them.
The third individual, the vehicle driver, ran away. Both during and after the incident, ISOF and Coalition Forces came under attack from small-arms fire; rocket propelled grenades, and improvised explosive devices (IED).
Qadir has a long history of violence in the region. He managed operations to murder and intimidate local Iraqis and is credited with ordering attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces.
He also instructed new recruits on terrorist methods as well as the construction and detonation of IEDS. Additionally, Qadir was allegedly involved in weapons trafficking, theft, the procurement of rocket propelled grenades, IEDs, and conventional explosives from terrorists in Iran.
MILITANT DETAINED IN AFGHANISTAN
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces detained a suspected Taliban militant in an operation early Friday against Taliban forces in Nahr Surkh district of Helmand Province.
The combined force acted on credible intelligence that led to the compound suspected of housing local Taliban fighters.
A limited firefight broke out during the operation, resulting in the deaths of three enemy fighters. There were no civilian or coalition casualties.
The detainee will be questioned as to his involvement in militant Taliban activities.
COALITION FORCES NAB 20 SUSPECTED AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition Forces detained 20 suspected terrorists during several raids targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq around the country Friday morning.
In Baghdad, Coalition Forces raided a house looking for a suspected al-Qaeda battalion commander. The ground force detained three suspected terrorists at the targeted location, including the alleged leader. Intelligence reports indicate he is responsible for numerous attacks in Baghdad, including assassinations, attacks on news media and attacks on the city's infrastructure.
Coalition Forces detained 11 suspected terrorists in an operation southwest of Baghdad targeting al-Qaeda leadership. One of the individuals detained is allegedly a close associate of a Libyian who facilitates the movement of foreign fighters in the area.
In continuing operations to disrupt the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device network in Baghdad, Coalition Forces targeted a known explosives expert associated with the al-Qaeda in Iraq network. The individual is also known to have knowledge of explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, and was recently promoted within the network. Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists from the target location.
In Mosul, Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists linked to an al-Qaeda weapons dealer allegedly involved in an IED network there.
Two suspected terrorists were detained during a Coalition Forces raid targeting al-Qaeda leadership in Baghdad. Ground forces found a small cache of weapons, which they safely destroyed on site.
ARRESTS MADE IN CONJUNCTION WITH SEARCH FOR SOLDIERS
CAMP STRIKER, IRAQ - As the search for the missing 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Soldiers continues, several arrests were made for other crimes.
Soldiers from Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment detained two local national males at approximately 10:20 p.m., Wednesday, believed to be responsible for a rocket attack on Patrol Base Inchon that killed an interpreter. They were detained one kilometer from the May 12 attack site.
A patrol from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment detained two Iraqi males at about 10:40 p.m. attempting to flee a house being searched eight kilometers northwest of Yusufiyah.Found in the house was a weapons cache consisting of two AK-47s hidden in a tennis racquet case, an SKS assault rifle, 50 rounds of 7.62 ammunition, a cell phone with foreign phone numbers programmed into it and a rocket propelled grenade night sight.
Soldiers from Company B, 4-31 detained three individuals near Rushdi Mullah and about 1:20 am, Thursday. They were wanted for attacks against the Iraqi army, local civilians and Coalition Forces.
