Good News From The War On Terror 8/9
Iraqi, U.S. Special Forces detain 12 insurgents, kill two during three operations
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Special Operations Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, detained five suspected rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi militia insurgents, Aug. 8 in the neighborhood of Mahmudiyah in Baghdad.
During the operation, ISOF and USSF came under enemy small-arms fire. With well-aimed fire, two insurgents were killed.The primary individual detained in the operation is allegedly a rogue JAM leader suspected of trafficking weapons. The Shi’a extremist is the alleged leader of a death squad, whose members are known to conduct kidnapping, torture and execution of local Iraqi citizens. Iraqi Forces detained four other suspicious individuals present during the raid. Additionally, the rogue JAM extremists are suspected of emplacing explosively formed penetrators that target Coalition and Iraqi Forces.
In a second operation a rogue JAM militia cell commander was detained Aug. 8 in Karbala, a town on the southwestern outskirts of Baghdad.The primary suspect is believed to have directed and overseen attacks on Coalition Forces using improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators on multiple occasions. One other suspicious individual present during the operation was also detained.
During the final operation an alleged rogue JAM Death Squad leader and four members of his cell were detained in East Rashid, a district in Baghdad.The Shi’a extremist leads a cell that conducts kidnapping of local citizens, displacement of residents from their homes, and extra judicial killings of Sunnis and Egyptians living in the Baghdad area.
Raid uncovers large cache in southern Baghdad
BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division-Baghdad troops discovered a large weapons cache during a raid in the West Rashid District of Baghdad Aug. 8.
Soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, raided a house in the Aamel neighborhood where they found a cache hidden behind a false door blocked by a refrigerator.The Soldiers found an 82mm mortar tube, a 60mm mortar tube, 16 60mm mortar rounds, 53 82mm mortar rounds, seven AK-47s, three Type- 85 sniper rifles, a PKC machine gun, 18 cans of ammunition, 14 AK magazines and a pair of binoculars.
The unit also found two 107mm rockets and a launcher at the site.
The munitions were taken to a Coalition Forces base for disposal.
TAJI, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, captured five suspected al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists near the village of Ibrahim Sinjar during intelligence driven operations in western Iraq Aug. 7.
Information from local residents indicated that al Qaeda in Iraq used the village for meetings and storing weapons caches and medication. These suspected terrorists are believed to be involved in attacks against Iraqi Security Forces using improvised explosive devices.
During the operation, a house used by al Qaeda in Iraq to store explosives, stage attacks and facilitate operations, was destroyed. After moving residents to a safe distance, U. S. Special Forces destroyed the building. In addition, weapons, ammunitions, and Iraqi and U.S currency at the site were seized.In a second operation, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device cache was destroyed Aug. 6 in the village of Bi’ag, near Sinjar, Iraq.
Already in the area conducting vehicle inspections, the Iraqi and U.S. air-assault force noticed suspicious materials in the bed of a white truck that contained four individuals. The forces stopped the vehicle, causing the four armed suspected terrorists to exit and run in opposite directions. The assault force however secured the vehicle.
The vehicle contained five 120mm mortar rounds, one 120mm mortar system including the tripod and base plate, a rocket-propelled grenade, one PK general purpose machine gun with 1,000 rounds of associated ammunition, one improvised-three tube rocket launcher system, two cell phones and a video camera.
Using controlled proportional fire, the vehicle was destroyed in place.
3 terrorists killed, 21 detained in operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed three terrorists and detained 21 suspected terrorists during operations Wednesday and Thursday targeting terrorist cells associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq in the Tigris River Valley.
West of Balad Wednesday, Coalition Forces conducted a precision operation targeting the leader of a terrorist cell of foreigners and internationally connected Iraqis associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq. The cell is known to provide logistics support to al-Qaeda in Iraq, as well as facilitating the movement of foreign terrorists and suicide bombings. Surveillance teams identified the targeted individual and his associates inside a vehicle and, based on the nature of the cell’s activities, declared it a hostile target. When the vehicle stopped near a house, Coalition Forces fired on the vehicle, killing the three terrorists. Explosions erupted from inside the car, and Coalition Forces later found rocket-propelled grenades, rifles and propane tanks in the vehicle.
Based on information from the Wednesday operation, Coalition Forces raided five buildings west of Balad associated with the foreign terrorist Thursday morning. After securing the area, the ground forces found a man, assessed to be a foreigner, hiding in a well near the buildings. He was detained for his suspected associations with the foreign terrorist cell.
Coalition Forces captured the suspected deputy of a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in the northern part of the country during a Thursday operation north of Tikrit. The captured individual allegedly works for the terrorist emir of Salah ad Din province, who intelligence reports indicate was involved in developing strategy for al-Qaeda in Iraq. In addition to the deputy, Coalition Forces detained seven individuals for their suspected ties to the terrorist leader.
In Mosul Thursday, Coalition Forces targeted a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq operative who allegedly escaped from Badush prison in March and conducted attacks against Coalition Forces in May. Ground forces detained three suspected terrorists for their alleged ties to the terrorist group.
Coalition Forces detained nine more suspected terrorists in Mosul Thursday while targeting a close associate of an al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader.
Two weapons caches discovered in Jamia
BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers and Iraqi Security Forces discovered two large weapons caches in a western portion of the Iraqi capital Aug. 7.
Working off a tip from a resident, members of 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment and 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 6th Iraqi Army uncovered two munitions caches in the Baghdad neighborhood of Jamia.
The troops found three 81mm rockets, 14 57mm rockets, 42 81mm mortar rounds and 71 120mm mortar rounds at the first site. These munitions were found buried in the yard behind an abandoned home. Eight rifles and two rocket-propelled grenade launchers were discovered within the house, along with other assorted improvised explosive device-making materials.
A second cache site was found two blocks from the first site in yet another abandoned home. Twelve 120mm mortar rounds and IED-making materials were discovered at this location.
All of the munitions were consolidated and taken to a local field where they were destroyed in a controlled detonated by a Coalition explosive ordnance disposal team.
Cache seized, suspect detained
BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized a cache of weapons and improvised explosive device-making materials and detained a man believed to be connected with the cache in the western Yarmouk neighborhood Aug. 7.
Soldiers from Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment came upon the cache just before midnight while searching houses during Operation Firecracker. The operation was launched to seek out a suspected IED-cell in the area.
The Soldiers detained one Yarmouk resident connected to the house where they found the cache. He is a suspected IED cell member, and remains in custody for further questioning.
The troops uncovered two AK-47 assault rifles, approximately 200 AK-47 rounds, three 9V batteries, one 9mm pistol, two hand-held radios, numerous wires and electronic connectors and switches used for IED making materials.
