U.S., Iraqi Troops Seize 47 in Iraq Operations

American Forces Press Service

May 30, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces captured 47 suspected terrorists, including some suspected terror-cell chieftains, and seized contraband weaponry during operations across Iraq over the past few days, military officials reported. Coalition forces detained 30 suspected terrorists in operations around Iraq today.

During operations this morning in Baghdad, Mosul, and Anbar and Salah ad Din provinces coalition troops rounded up 28 suspected terrorists.

-- Coalition troops detained two suspected terrorists during morning operations in the Sadr City section of Baghdad.

-- In Mosul, coalition forces detained four suspected terrorists, including an individual believed to be the key al Qaeda link in the city.

-- During morning raids in Anbar province, coalition troops detained 14 suspected terrorists believed to have al Qaeda ties associated with transport of money, weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq.

-- Coalition raids in Salah ad Din province nabbed three suspected terrorists. A discovered weapons cache produced mortars, small arms and a heavy machine gun.

-- Coalition forces captured five suspected terrorists in Sadr City. Individuals detained are believed to be members of a secret terror cell linked to the transport of explosively formed ordnance and insurgents from Iran into Iraq.

"This morning we removed numerous, abhorrent terrorists from the Iraqi population," Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said. "Our operations will continue to seek out these lawless and dangerous terrorists."

The capture of weapons traffickers in Sadr City is sure to disrupt the flow of weapons into Iraq, he said. "We will continue to target terrorists who aid the trafficking of deadly weapons that threaten the safety and security of innocent Iraqis," Garver said.

In another operation today, coalition troops detained two suspected terrorists, found weapons and seized a local vehicle after coming under attack near Az-Zaidon, Iraq, west of Baghdad.

American soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team spotted a possible improvised explosive device connection wire and followed it to a small shack. A man ran from the shack upon the soldiers' approach. The soldiers then came under small-arms fire. One insurgent was killed and another was wounded during the ensuring firefight.

Upon a search of nearby vehicles, the soldiers found a rifle, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, falsified identification documents, six cell phones, a cordless phone, a box of ammunition, and some AK-47 rifle magazines.

A pickup truck then bore down on the soldiers at high speed. The soldiers fired on the truck and disabled it. Three men fled the truck. Upon searching the truck the soldiers found a 9 mm pistol. Another nearby pickup truck was searched, and it yielded a spool of copper wire. The truck was confiscated for further investigation.

In other news from Iraq, Iraqi special operations troops detained two people, including a suspected terror cell leader, during a morning raid yesterday in the Baghdad area. The accused terrorist is suspected of running a kidnapping and assassination network in the Baghdad area. The cell is believed to have abducted an Iraqi nuclear power scientist and of complicity in the murders of two senior Iraqi government officials.

Elsewhere, Iraqi troops captured 15 other terrorists during three operations conducted May 26-28 in central Iraq.

-- Iraqi special operations forces seized four people suspected of killing and torturing civilians, as well as forcing them out of their homes in the Baghdad area during a May 28 raid.

-- Iraqi soldiers captured eight suspected terrorists during a May 27 raid.

-- Iraqi soldiers detained three suspected terrorists and destroyed a car bomb and several large weapons caches during a May 26 raid.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

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