Hellfire Missile Kills Insurgent, Destroys Vehicle in Baghdad

American Forces Press Service

May 11, 2008 - A U.S. Hellfire missile killed an insurgent near the site of a roadside-bomb attack in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district today, U.S. military officials said. A vehicle was destroyed while another insurgent fled the scene.

"Our soldiers, along with the Iraqi security forces, continue to meet with the local populace to identify these criminal elements and eliminate the threat they pose," said Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division spokesman. "We will continue to use precision fire to defend the Iraqi people and ourselves against these criminal elements."

In yesterday's operations:

-- An American aerial weapons team destroyed an insurgent rocket-launch site in central Baghdad with two Hellfire missiles. One insurgent was killed, and the rocket rail and a shack were destroyed.

-- An American aerial weapons team killed five insurgents in eastern Baghdad. The insurgents were heavily armed with a rocket-propelled grenade, two light machine guns, and two AK-47 rifles. The U.S. team fired two Hellfire missiles, which killed all five insurgents.

-- Coalition forces south of Mosul responded to a perceived threat and fired on a vehicle, killing two armed men inside. A woman and child in the vehicle also were killed. The coalition forces had fired three warning shots, but the vehicle's driver refused to stop and another man inside it made threatening movements. "Coalition forces sincerely regret when innocent civilians are killed during our operations to rid Iraq of terrorists," said Navy Capt. Gordon Delcambre, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.
-- Coalition and Iraqi forces detained 12 suspected al-Qaida terrorists during operations targeting the terrorist network in central and northern Iraq. Two suspects were detained during an operation in Baghdad. Three suspects were detained in Abu Ghraib, located about 25 miles west of Baghdad. Three suspected terrorists were detained in Kirkuk. Four more suspects were detained in an operation conducted east of Beiji.

-- Iraqi commandos detained three suspected Iranian-trained "special groups" insurgents involved in using terror tactics against local security forces in Amarah.

-- U.S. soldiers killed four insurgents, seized two weapons caches and destroyed illegal weapons during a series of operations across Baghdad. A cache in Mansour yielded multiple mortar rounds and a mortar bipod. A cache in western Rashid contained a rocket, a machine gun, a spare machine-gun barrel, and more than 350 rounds.

-- U.S. soldiers engaged and killed two insurgents in separate actions in Baghdad's Adhamiyah sector.

-- U.S. soldiers killed four criminals after a failed explosively formed penetrator attack in Baghdad's Sadr City district.

-- U.S. troops killed an insurgent observed emplacing a roadside bomb in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district. A second insurgent fled the scene.

During May 9 operations:

-- Iraqi and U.S. forces captured three terrorists and seized weapons during operations in the West Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Iraqi soldiers seized an AK-47 rifle with 152 rounds, an RPK machine gun with 250 rounds, and 60 mortar fuses. U.S. soldiers confiscated a rocket-propelled grenade, a PKC machine gun with 600 rounds, a hand grenade, a 60 mm mortar round and four homemade explosives in a house located in Risalah. U.S. soldiers wounded a suspected terrorist and detained two others after a firefight. The same patrol later discovered an explosively formed projectile, two rocket launchers, and three rockets in the Jihad neighborhood. "Iraqi security forces in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad, along with Raider Brigade soldiers, are keeping the terrorists off balance by uncovering these caches, disrupting the terrorists' networks and detaining them," said Army Maj. Dave Olson, a 4th Infantry Division spokesman.

-- Also, U.S. Special Operations troops killed 11 special groups criminals in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. The special operations forces were providing security for coalition troops that were making safety infrastructure improvements in Sadr City. During the operation, U.S. commandos killed nine insurgents during a firefight. Two more insurgents were killed by a Hellfire missile.

In a separate series of operations in Baghdad on May 9, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers killed eight insurgents and seized four weapons caches.

-- U.S. soldiers discovered an improvised explosive device and a 122 mm rocket thanks to a police-provided tip.

-- U.S. soldiers killed three insurgents who attacked their patrol with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

-- U.S. soldiers discovered a weapons cache in southern Baghdad. The cache contained: rifles, more than 400 rounds of ammunition, and more than 50 mortar fuses.

-- U.S. soldiers killed two insurgents in eastern Baghdad.

-- U.S. soldiers discovered pipe bombs, a machine gun, more than 600 machine guns rounds, a 60mm mortar round, and a grenade.

-- Iraqi soldiers and police confiscated a rocket-propelled grenade, grenades, a machine gun and ammunition.

-- U.S. soldiers were struck by two roadside bombs in northeastern Baghdad. Following the attack, three insurgents attacked the soldiers with small-arms fire. The U.S. soldiers killed the insurgents.

"These criminals attack innocent Iraqi citizens and Iraqi and coalition forces," said Army Maj. Joey Sullinger, a 10th Mountain Division spokesman. "Along with our Iraqi counterparts and the government of Iraq, we will continue to meet these criminals head on with deadly force. We will protect the people of Iraq and restore safety and security throughout Baghdad."

During May 8 operations:

-- Coalition forces finished destroying five bunkers and 12 weapons caches during a series of operations northeast of Baghdad. The caches contained: an anti-aircraft gun with five boxes of ammunition, more than 2,200 rounds of small-arms ammunition, bomb-making materials, 34 fuses, a pickup truck containing bomb components, and multiple rockets and mortars with two rocket launchers. Coalition forces also found a computer, compact discs and other communications equipment.

-- U.S. soldiers rescued a kidnapped Iraqi citizen during an operation near Ibrahim Bin Ali, northwest of Baghdad. The soldiers acted on tips provided by Iraqi soldiers and concerned citizens. The suspected kidnappers were detained and held for questioning.

-- Members of a "Sons of Iraq" citizen security group turned over seized weapons caches to Iraqi soldiers during a medical operation in Abu Osage, about 30 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. More than 165 citizens received medical care from Iraqi and U.S. Army care providers. The caches contained: artillery rounds, a 73 mm projectile, more than 100 mortar primers, and a surface-to-air rocket launcher.

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