Good News From The War On Terror 1/9
UPDATE: Coalition forces positively identify terrorist killed in operation Dec. 25
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A terrorist killed during an operation Dec. 25 has been positively identified as Haydar al-Afri.
Haydar al-Afri, also known as Imad Abd al-Karim, was a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader for the western region of Mosul, and a close associate of several terrorist senior leaders in northern Iraq. Haydar was involved in facilitating resources and planning attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces.
Haydar was killed during a Coalition forces operation in Mosul Dec. 25. During the operation, Coalition forces were engaged on two separate occasions by armed men as they attempted to clear target buildings in the area. The men charged at the Coalition forces’ position, and the ground force engaged the enemy, killing four terrorists.
As the ground force continued to clear the area, they were engaged by machine gun fire and grenades from underneath one of the structures. Responding in self-defense, Coalition forces returned fire and called for supporting aircraft to engage. Once enemy fire ceased, the ground force assessed that an additional five terrorists were killed during the engagement. A total of nine terrorists were killed during the operation, including Haydar.
Haydar started out as an al-Qaeda in Iraq fighter and later assumed leadership positions in terrorist networks in various Mosul neighborhoods. He began leading the Islamic State of Iraq army in west Mosul after its previous leader detonated his suicide vest during a Coalition forces operation.
Haydar was closely associated with numerous al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders operating in the region, to include one detained Dec. 13 for his involvement in the Mosul network and his ties to the terrorist senior leader of northern Iraq.
Operation Iron Harvest clears al-Qaeda from northern Iraq
BAQUBA, Iraq – Multi-National Division – North Soldiers began Operation Iron Harvest to pursue al-Qaeda in Iraq and extremist elements from the region.
The operation, which looks to expand on the successes of Operation Iron Reaper, also focuses on disrupting funding sources and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device networks and denying enemy safe havens in northern Iraq.
Operation Iron Harvest is a part of Operation Phantom Phoenix, an overarching operation to defeat extremism throughout all of Iraq.
Iron Harvest operations began with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and the 5th Iraqi Army Division clearing the Diyala Province of enemy fighters to end insurgent attacks. Operations are now being concentrated in Muqdadiyah.
Coalition forces target al-Qaeda leaders in northern Iraq, six detained
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces detained six suspects today during operations targeting al-Qaeda networks in northern Iraq.
During an operation in Mosul, Coalition forces captured a wanted individual believed to be involved in the al-Qaeda network operating in northwestern Iraq. The wanted individual is reportedly associated with a senior leader involved in foreign terrorist facilitation and connected to a group of terrorists responsible for improvised explosive device attacks. In addition to the wanted individual, three suspected terrorists were detained during the operation.
Coalition forces detained another two suspected terrorists during an operation in Hawija targeting an al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader believed to be operating in the area.
Dragons find five caches, detain three
BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers found five caches and detained three suspected extremists during ongoing operations in the Rashid District Jan. 5.
While clearing a house in East Rashid “Cougars” of Company E, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to Task Force Dragon, found a five-gallon container filled with homemade explosives, a water bottle with wire and 20 shotgun shells attached and an improvised explosive device taped to a fuel can.
An hour later, “Warriors” of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, also attached to TF Dragon, found two pressure plates, five blasting caps and 15 feet of detonation cord during a patrol in the Doura neighborhood.
Also, during a joint patrol in Saydiyah, “Tuskers” of Company B, 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, and Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, found three rocket-propelled grenades and a five-gallon drum of HME in an abandoned home.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel deemed moving the cache too dangerous and remotely detonated the structure. There were no casualties. Soldiers of Co. A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Dragon, and Co. B, 4th Bn., 64th Armor both found caches of three mortar rounds in two separate incidents in West Rashid. EOD personnel were called in to dispose of the caches.
Also that day, “Black Lions” of Company D, 1st Bn., 28th Inf., captured three men suspected of being members of a Shia extremist IED cell. The three were taken to a coalition base for questioning. “Though violence has largely subsided in the Rashid district, our Soldiers along with our Iraqi counterparts will continue to improve the security of the area by continuing to target extremist supplies and those who support them,” said Maj. Kirk Luedeke, Task Force Dragon spokesman.
MND-North Soldiers kill 4 extremists, destroy HBIED with air strikes (Khan Bani Sa’ad)
BAQUBA, Iraq – Multi-National Division – North Soldiers killed four extremists and destroyed a house-borne improvised explosive device near Khan Bani Sa’ad, Iraq, with air strikes Jan. 6.
Soldiers of Troop B, 2nd Battalion, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team operating at Patrol Base Key West spotted four individuals with RPGs and AK-47s operating in and around a nearby building.
The Soldiers watched them unroll wire around the building, possibly setting it up to be a HBIED.
The ground commander called in an air strike, and a Coalition Forces’ helicopter fired a hellfire missile at the building. Minutes later, Coalition Forces’ aircraft dropped two bombs on the structure.
After the second bomb, large secondary explosions and different kinds of smoke were observed at the site by the MND-N Soldiers. Exploitation of the site revealed wire around the building, confirming that the building was rigged as a HBIED.
Iraqi Army finds bomb making facility outside Baghdad (Al Baytara, Abu Ghraib)
AL BAYTARA, ABU GHRAIB, Iraq – Iraqi Army Soldiers from 3d Battalion, 3d Brigade, 6th Division and Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers found different weapons and explosives caches in a suspected bomb making facility in Al Baytara, Abu Ghraib, just outside of Baghdad Jan 7.
Based upon a tip from a local citizen, the Iraqi Army unit found a cache consisting of more than 5,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, a sniper rifle, rocket propelled grenade launchers, mortar rounds, rockets, rocket tubes, tank rounds, artillery rounds, an artillery round filled with home made explosives, various components for improvised explosive devices, bomb making materials, grenades, and more than 50 galloons of liquid home made explosives and 120 pound of solid home made explosives.
