Iraqi, Coalition Forces Kill Two Terrorists, Detain 19

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2006 – In several incidents July 16 and 17 and yesterday, Iraqi soldiers, police, and coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained 19, military officials reported. Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, captured and detained a suspected terrorist at a checkpoint northwest of Baghdad at about 3 p.m. yesterday. The suspect was traveling with a woman and with four children under the age of 2 in a vehicle carrying multiple mortar systems, three 130 mm rounds and two directional charges. The Iraqi army detained the suspected terrorist.

In a separate event, soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were attacked by small-arms fire while conducting area reconnaissance at about 3 p.m. in an outlying area of southwestern Baghdad. The soldiers returned fire on their attackers; after searching the area, they found the bodies of two dead terrorists and detained seven others. Soldiers confiscated six AK-47s, two drums of 7.62 mm ammunition, a pistol with a magazine, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with a round attached and ready to fire.

Elsewhere, coalition forces successfully targeted and captured two al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists and five additional suspects during a July 17 raid near Muhammadi. The security forces targeted the local terrorist leaders for their extensive ties to foreign fighter facilitators and improvised explosive device cell leaders. The detainee serving as the top local terrorist leader recently assumed his position within al Qaeda after security forces killed his predecessor, officials said.

The forces secured multiple buildings and detained the seven individuals without incident. The two primarily targeted individuals identified themselves on location. Additionally, the assault force found numerous IED-making materials, including a video used to demonstrate the placing of IEDs.

Intelligence indicated two buildings targeted were used as foreign fighter safe houses and as a staging area for insurgent attacks against Iraqi security forces, civilians and coalition troops. Coalition forces destroyed the houses to prevent their further use by terrorists in the area.

In another incident, Iraqi police and Multinational Division Baghdad's 1st Battalion, 66th Armor, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained four terrorist cell members July 16 after receiving a call from a concerned citizen, who informed them of an attack planned against the Rashadia police station. The telephone tip warned that attackers had surrounded the police station. Soldiers responded to the area to provide assistance to Iraqi police.

After an exchange of gunfire, the terrorists attempted to escape, but Iraqi police and coalition soldiers pursued them. Four local citizens stopped the fleeing suspects, and the Iraqi police took them into custody. According to information gleaned from the individuals taken into custody, their plan was to attack the police station because they wanted to kill two terrorist leaders they believed were being held there.