Troops Nab 48 Suspects, Kill One Insurgent in Iraq

American Forces Press Service

July 25, 2007 - Combined Iraqi and U.S. forces captured 48 suspected terrorists, killed one insurgent and seized weapons and bombs in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. During an operation today in Tarmiyah, troops detained 10 suspected terrorists. The detainees have alleged ties to an al Qaeda in Iraq leader known for coordinating car-bomb attacks in Baghdad.

Coalition forces netted six suspected terrorists in coordinated raids in Samarra today. During one operation, troops detained five individuals who allegedly are associated with al Qaeda leaders in central Iraq responsible for helping foreign terrorists move into the country. In a separate operation there, coalition forces detained one suspected terrorist who officials said is a close associate of al Qaeda leaders in Baghdad.

During raids targeting key al Qaeda in Iraq leaders in Mosul this morning, coalition forces nabbed three suspected terrorists. One is believed to be the al Qaeda in Iraq administrative emir for Mosul, military officials said.

Elsewhere, troops apprehended one suspected terrorist today during a raid targeting the al Qaeda in Iraq network in Baghdad.

"With every operation coalition forces conduct, we are further degrading and destroying the al Qaeda in Iraq network," said Army Maj. Marc Young, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. "Al Qaeda and its foreign leadership seek only to bring violence and fear to the Iraqi people in its attempt to prevent a secure and democratic Iraq."

In Baghdad on July 23:

-- Iraqi security forces and U.S. Special Forces advisors detained 13 suspected al Qaeda members during two operations near Baghdad. Eight suspects are linked to an al Qaeda cell involved in sniper operations and death squad activities near Hayy Aamel. The five others reportedly are involved in al Qaeda sniper and death squad activities near Tib, military officials said.

-- A series of five explosions killed 11 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others in central and eastern Baghdad. Those wounded in the attacks are receiving medical treatment.

-- Apache crews from Multinational Division Baghdad teamed with ground forces to disrupt an insurgent attack north of Baghdad. A ground patrol later seized four insurgents involved in the fighting and confiscated nine handguns, ammunition and explosive-making materials.

-- Troops captured three suspected insurgents and recovered a weapons cache in eastern Baghdad's Adhamiyah district. The stockpile contained eight mortar rounds, five rocket-propelled grenade launchers and three rockets, seven grenades, and 1,800 rounds of small-arms ammunition. An explosive ordnance disposal team removed the cache.

-- Multinational Division Baghdad troops seized a large cache containing mortar tubes, munitions and significant amounts of homemade explosives in the southern portion of the Iraqi capital. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the cache in place after troops cordoned off the area.

-- Two children died, and a woman and her daughter were injured after mortar rounds, believed to be fired by al Qaeda operatives, landed in the village of Awad. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers responded, and the wounded girl and her mother were immediately evacuated via helicopter to a coalition combat support hospital after receiving immediate care at the patrol base.

Elsewhere in Iraq on July 23:

-- Iraqi Security Forces killed an al Qaeda cell's senior leader and detained seven suspected insurgents in a series of early-morning raids at a terrorist training camp northeast of Karmah.

-- Combined Iraqi and U.S. troops operating near Hillah detained a key member of Jaysh al-Mahdi, a rogue militia group. The suspect allegedly is responsible for emplacing improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators that killed several coalition force members when the explosives detonated along Iraqi and coalition force supply routes.

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