Coalition Raids Kill Five Terrorists in Iraq

American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - Coalition forces killed five terrorists and detained 38 suspected terrorists today during operations targeting al Qaeda in Iraq's Salah Ad Din and Anbar provinces, military officials reported. As coalition forces approached one of the targeted buildings during a raid in Tarmiyah, they received small-arms fire from within. After ensuring that women and children near the scene were a safe distance from the building, coalition forces reacting in self-defense called in close-air support.

Ground forces assessed that five terrorists were killed in the air strike. The assault forces detained 10 suspected terrorists and destroyed the building, officials said.

Near Karmah today, coalition forces raided four buildings associated with a suspected al Qaeda financier who works with senior al Qaeda leaders in Anbar province. During the operation, the assault force found machine guns, mortar rounds, improvised-explosive-device materials, and military-style assault vests. A coalition air strike destroyed the cache, and the ground forces detained 17 suspected terrorists on site.

South of Samarra, coalition forces detained eight suspected terrorists during a raid today targeting a suspected al Qaeda operative tied to suicide bombers and foreign terrorists. The ground forces uncovered a cache of weapons that included rifles, grenades, mortars, military-style assault vests, body armor, and materials to assist in anti-aircraft strikes. A trained explosives team destroyed the cache on site.

Elsewhere, coalition forces today detained three suspected terrorists during a raid targeting an alleged al Qaeda leader in Bayji.

"Al Qaeda in Iraq and affiliated networks continue to conduct malicious attacks on the Iraqi people," said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. "We will continue to target their leaders and operatives wherever they hide."

In operations yesterday, Iraqi security forces conducted a series of raids that led to the detention of a suspected al Qaeda cell leader responsible for attacks and facilitating foreign fighters in the Qaim area.

The suspect allegedly ran terrorist activities in Husaybah and was reportedly involved in planning future large-scale attacks against coalition forces in the western Euphrates River Valley, officials said.

With U.S. Special Forces soldiers present as advisors, Iraqi police also detained two primary suspects and three additional people of interest near Husaybah, located on the Euphrates River west of Qaim. Various documents, including multiple identification cards and passports, also were seized during the operation. The second primary suspect is a school teacher believed to be spreading propaganda and recruiting his students to kill members of the Iraqi police and army.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula news releases.)