Good News From The War On Terror 1/6
Local tip leads Iraqi SWAT to weapons cache
MUQDADIYAH, Iraq – Iraqi Police discovered a weapons cache after receiving a tip from local citizens in Muqdadiyah Jan. 4.
Thirteen mortars of various sizes, including two 60 mm mortars, several rockets, ammunition of different calibers, an anti-tank mine, initiators, propellants and other bomb-making materials were confiscated.
The cache was found in a suspected extremist’s home.
Several makeshift attack, observation and sniper positions were found littered with shell casings. Upon further investigation of the area, several barrels were unearthed revealing more ammunition and a machine gun.
Soldiers of the 293rd Military Police Company, 728th MP Battalion, 18th MP Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division assisted the IPs in finding the cache and conducting searches of the area.
Multiple caches found, destroyed by Coalition forces
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Multiple weapons caches were seized and destroyed by the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division throughout the Mada’in Qada Jan. 2.
Soldiers of Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, secured a cache found by Concerned Local Citizens in the Al Bawi area of the Mada’in Qada. The Mada’in Qada is a portion of the Baghdad province and is home to almost 900,000 Iraqis.
The cache was brought by CLCs to a local sheik’s house where Soldiers of the 789th Ordnance Company, attached to the 3rd HBCT, collected and destroyed the munitions. The cache, consisting of two 130 mm mortars, two strands of crush-wire, five rocket-propelled grenade warheads and one 82 mm mortar.
In a separate incident, the CLCs of Al Zatia informed Battery A, 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Soldiers of a cache consisting of one 155 mm round and one 157 mm round found during a CLC patrol. Battery A Soldiers and members of the 789th Ordnance Co. moved to the CLC headquarters in Al Zatia to secure and destroy the rounds.
In Jisr Diyala, an Iraqi citizen provided a tip to Iraqi Security Forces at the Joint Security Site that led to the discovery of a cache near Al Arifiyah. Soldiers from Company D, 1-15th Inf. Regt. and the 789th Ordnance Co. secured the cache of munitions. The cache consisted of three 60 mm high-explosive mortars, one 82 mm HE mortar, and several Iraqi Police uniforms and patches.
MND-Center Soldiers capture weapons trafficker
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – A suspected distributor of car bombs and a weapons trafficker for al-Qaeda in Iraq was captured 25 miles south of Baghdad Jan. 1.
The detainee is the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division’s No. 1 most wanted individual.
Prior to the raid, Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, part of Task Force 1-76 out of FOB Kalsu, watched the target for hours with a Predator drone and OH-58D Kiowa observation helicopters.
Shortly after the individual stopped at his house, Soldiers from Co. B boarded helicopters and landed in a field next to the house. Within minutes, the target was in custody.
CLCs uncover large cache in Tuwaitha
BAGHDAD – On Jan. 1 Concerned Local Citizens in Tuwaitha, a village southeast of Baghdad, discovered one of the largest weapons caches since the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team deployed to the Mada’in Qada nine months ago.
The cache consisted of two five-gallon jugs of homemade explosives, seven 85 mm rockets, one 73 mm rocket, ten 82 mm mortar rounds, two 57 mm mortar rounds, two 60 mm mortar rounds, two rocket-propelled grenade launchers and two 40 mm explosive projectiles.
Airstrikes kill three suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq
BAGHDAD – Two Apache helicopter airstrikes killed three suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq extremists near Maderiyah during Operation Marne Thunderbolt on the night of Jan. 4 and the morning of Jan. 5
In the first strike Jan. 4, Soldiers from Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, saw two suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members digging and emplacing weapons caches in a canal.
Battery B called for air support from 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade. When the extremists heard the Apaches overhead, they fled to a nearby building.
The helicopters engaged the extremists with machine guns. A reconnaissance of the area confirmed both extremists were killed.
The following day, Soldiers reported another man digging in numerous spots in the same area on the canal. The man was identified as an extremist and was engaged by Apache helicopters.
Hellfire missiles were fired, into the area where the extremist was digging, to destroy any possible caches or explosives buried beneath the ground. The missiles produced secondary explosions confirming that munitions were emplaced there.
Paktya villagers turn-in weapon caches
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan National Security Forces, working with villagers in Paktya Province, turned-in hundreds of weapons discovered throughout the province during the month of December.
In December, villagers of Paktya Province turned-in more than 700 weapons and various types of ammunition. So far, ANSF and Coalition forces have collected 247 rocket-propelled grenades and three launchers, 99 hand grenades, 124 anti-personnel mines, 11 82mm recoilless rifle rounds, 14 82mm mortars, 10 anti-tank mines, 200 anti-tank mine fuses, three remote-controlled improvised explosive devices, four Kalashnikov automatic machine guns and two RPD automatic machine guns.
Afghan Border Police and Afghan National Police have led the effort to rid the area of illegal weapons commonly used by insurgents. The combined force has actively engaged with tribal leaders, village elders and Afghan citizens throughout the province to convince them to root out weapons stores.
Most weapons caches were discovered when villagers alerted ANSF during security patrols in the province. Other times, villagers brought the weapons to a military outpost in Chamkani District shared by ANSF and Coalition forces.
