Good News From The War On Terror 6/23
Iraqi Forces kill insurgents during Operation Arrowhead Ripper
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Army Forces killed five insurgents near Baqubah June 20 as Iraqi and Coalition Forces continued operations against al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
Iraqi Forces with Coalition Forces present as advisors observed five individuals placing an improvised explosive device near a bridge in the Khatoon district of Baqubah in the early morning hours in violation of the imposed curfew. The Iraqi Forces determined there was hostile intent and engaged the individuals with small arms fire. Iraqi Forces also discovered a second IED nearby.
Explosives experts detonated both IEDs in place with no damage to nearby structures.
Iraqi Forces also detained four other individuals during the operation.
Iraqi Special Operations Forces detain insurgent leader in Sadr City
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Special Operations Forces conducted an early morning operation June 22 and detained a key rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi insurgent leader in Sadr City.
The key insurgent leader is allegedly responsible for coordinating and conducting kidnappings, death squad killings and improvised explosive device attacks against innocent civilians and Iraqi and Coalition Forces. He is also suspected of smuggling weapons into Iraq.
7 terrorists killed, 10 detained, bombs destroyed
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed seven terrorists and detained 10 suspected terrorists during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders and operatives Friday and Saturday.
Coalition Forces targeted an al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader during a Saturday raid in Tikrit. While the ground force was securing the target building, a vehicle approached on the road at a high rate of speed. Ground force elements on the road attempted to stop the vehicle with visual and audio signals. When the vehicle continued to speed toward them, Coalition Forces engaged the vehicle to stop it, and killed two men inside. The vehicle swerved and lodged in a fence, where the ground forces found an improvised explosive device on the back seat. Coalition Forces cleared civilians from the area and called in an air strike to destroy the vehicle, which produced secondary explosions after the strike.
Inside the building, Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists with alleged ties to the targeted al-Qaeda in Iraq leader.
East of Fallujah, Coalition Forces raided four buildings Saturday while looking for associates of a high-level al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist. As Coalition Forces advanced on the building, a group of armed men fired on them from a nearby patch of reeds. Reacting to the hostile threat, the ground force called in close air support to engage the armed men. Five men armed with rifles, light machine guns and grenades were killed in the strike.
Coalition Forces discovered two vehicles outside the building with ammunition, hand grenades and mortar rounds inside. The ground force moved the vehicles away from buildings and civilians and safely destroyed the munitions on site.
Based on information gained from an operation June 16, Coalition Forces targeted an area south of Baghdad Saturday and captured an alleged member of the Baghdad vehicle-borne IED network. The suspect is also believed to provide foreign fighters and weapons to the network.
Coalition Forces captured an alleged Kurdish extremist associated with attacks in northern Iraq areas during a Friday raid in Mosul. The suspect is believed to be involved in facilitating the movement of foreign fighters, as well as conducting financial and media operations for al-Qaeda in Iraq. Four other suspected terrorists were detained in nearby raids.
CF, ISF searches yield torture chamber, bomb-rigged houses in Baqouba
BAQOUBA, Iraq – On day four of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, Task Force Lightning and Iraqi soldiers continued sweeping through Baqouba, Iraq, to root out al-Qaida in Iraq.
CF Soldiers worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the Iraqi soldiers and police officers in and around the city during the operations. Coalition ground forces and air support provided critical assistance in targeting and destroying al-Qaida operatives and their safe havens.
In the Khatoon neighborhood of Baqouba, ISF and CF discovered a building suspected of being used as a torture chamber. Ground forces observed various weapons, including knives and saws, inside the building as well as blood stains throughout the building. After securing the area, the building and its contents were destroyed by an attack helicopter armed with Hellfire missiles.
Also in Khatoon, CF destroyed two houses that contained 45 water heaters filled with homemade explosives, IED making materials and computer equipment. One of the houses also contained several booby trapped freezers.
Iraqi police were conducting security operations in and around the village of Khalis when Coalition attack helicopters from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade and ground forces from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, observed 15-20 armed men attempting to circumvent the IPs and infiltrate the village.
The attack helicopters, armed with missiles, engaged and killed 17 al-Qaida gunmen and destroyed the vehicle they were using.
Since the beginning of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, at least 55 al-Qaida operatives have been killed, 23 have been detained, 16 weapons caches have been discovered, 28 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 12 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.
AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY, COALITION SOLDIERS OVERWHELM ENEMY FIGHTERS IN KANDAHAR, ORUZGAN PROVINCE
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Soldiers from 2nd Kandak, 1st Brigade, 209th Afghan National Army Corps and Coalition members received machine gun fire from an unknown number of enemy fighters near the village of Sayed Nabi in the Shah Wali Kot District of Kandahar Province June 22.
The combined force returned fire and then pursued the enemy attackers as they attempted to escape. Nearly 20 enemy fighters were killed during a seven hour firefight and there were no Afghan civilian injuries reported.
Elsewhere in the Shaheed Hasas District of Oruzgan Province, a small number of enemy fighters fired multiple rockets at a 205th Afghan National Army Corps and Coalition firebase. The combined force returned fire and then quickly maneuvered on the enemy’s position, killing several fighters near the village of Mjani-Do.
MILITANTS KILLED, 20 DETAINED IN GHAZNI
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces detained 20 militants in operations early Saturday against al-Qaida militants at three compounds in Giro district of Ghazni Province.
Coalition forces acted on credible intelligence that pointed to the various compounds as sheltering al-Qaida fighters. Al-Qaida fighters fired rocket propelled grenades and machine guns at the Coalition forces as they approached one of the compounds; the forces returned fire, killing the assailants.
No civilians were injured in the operations.
A search of the compound from which the attack was launched turned up an RPK machine gun with 250 rounds of ammunition, an AK-47 with four full magazines, and two fragmentation grenades.
