Iraqis Destroy Terrorist Safe House

American Forces Press Service

Aug. 22, 2007 - Iraqi army scouts accompanied by U.S. special operations forces destroyed a suspected weapons cache and insurgent safe house yesterday in a helicopter assault. Other operations across Iraq have led to the capture of enemy fighters and weapons caches. Yesterday's raid targeted a residence near Karmah suspected of being used by foreign fighters and al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists. Multiple secondary explosions indicated munitions were stored there.

"The destruction of this target and weapons cache will send a clear message to insurgents that Iraqi army and coalition forces are intent on preventing any safe havens for insurgents or foreign fighters in the Karmah region," a U.S. special operations forces commander said.

In operations Aug. 20:

-- U.S. soldiers found a car bomb and three weapons caches during operations in southwestern Baghdad. One cache contained 94 mortar rounds, two 107 mm rockets, two rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, four Iranian-made RPGs, a rifle, a sniper rifle, four hand-held radios and battery chargers, and an anti-aircraft sight. Another cache yielded several thousand rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. The third cache contained an AK-47 rifle with two 30-round magazines and one set of Russian-made body armor.

-- U.S. forces detained 13 men, one dressed as a pregnant woman, during an air-assault mission along the Euphrates River. The operation, dubbed "Crimson Shogun," targeted al Qaeda-allied terror networks in the Owesat and Fetoah areas.

-- Iraq security forces detained a person linked to al Qaeda in Iraq during an operation in Mosul. The individual is believed to be the security chief for a suspected front organization for al Qaeda in Iraq. He also is suspected of ordering kidnappings and murders, as well as heading an extortion ring. Another person, military equipment and documents also were seized during the raid.

In other news from Iraq, U.S. soldiers acting on tips found weapons and materials used for making improvised explosive devices inside a residence in Khadra, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, on Aug. 19. The cache contained seven artillery rounds, two mortar rounds, two recoilless rifles, two hand grenades, and 15 pounds of homemade explosive material.

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