Iraqi Forces Nab Eight Insurgents in Early-Morning Raids

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – Iraqi security forces conducted early-morning raids in two areas today, netting eight insurgent fighters. Iraq forces captured two targeted insurgents, one of whom was a local insurgent cell leader, in a raid in a rural area northeast of Fallujah. Coalition force advisers looked on as Iraqi forces raided a targeted house and captured both insurgents.

The cell leader allegedly coordinated and directed makeshift bomb attacks against coalition convoys, mortar attacks against coalition bases, and ran an insurgent training camp near Samarra. His accomplice, a member of his cell, is believed to have conducted bomb and mortar attacks against coalition forces in the Fallujah area. Iraqi forces also seized one AK-47 assault rifle. No Iraqi or coalition forces were injured during the operation.

In a separate pre-dawn raid, Iraqi army forces captured six insurgents in Baghdad. The captured individuals are believed to have been involved in "death squad" activities, according to U.S. officials. As coalition force advisers looked on, Iraqi forces raided four buildings and captured the cell leader and five other key members of an insurgent "punishment committee." Iraqi forces also seized two AK-47 assault rifles, one pistol, and one set of body armor. No Iraqi or coalition forces were injured in the raids.

In other news from Iraq, soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 4th Brigade Combat team, 101st Airborne Division, detained five terrorist suspects and seized their weapons at around 12:30 a.m. July 23 after receiving a tip from an Iraqi citizen of a possible weapons cache. Soldiers entered the house and detained the five terrorists, along with two rocket-propelled grenades, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher and a 9 mm pistol.

In another incident, Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and U.S. soldiers from 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, were in patrol in Adhamiyah shortly before 1 a.m. July 23 when they were attacked by terrorists using small-arms fire. The soldiers returned fire and detained two terrorists.

As they were returning to base, they observed another individual running from a house carrying an AK-47 rifle. Soldiers stopped the man, confiscated his weapon and detained him. Upon searching the house from which the man fled and a vehicle nearby, soldiers found a mortar tube and a 60 mm round, three additional AK-47s, two bandoliers of ammunition, and six grenades