Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Five Attackers Killed, Seven Detained in Iraq Operations

American Forces Press Service

June 9, 2008 - Coalition forces killed five enemy fighters, destroyed a foreign
terrorist hideout, and detained seven terrorism suspects in operations across Iraq today. A tip from a detainee led coalition forces to a foreign terrorist hideout site in a remote area of northwestern Iraq. When forces arrived, enemy fighters attacked. Coalition forces returned fire and called in air support. Five terrorists were killed. Forces found several suicide vests and heavy machine guns at the site. The site was destroyed.

Also today, coalition forces targeted members of a
terrorist bombing network in Beiji, south of Mosul, and detained five terrorism suspects.

In Mosul, coalition forces captured an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq bomber and another suspect.

In operations north of Baghdad yesterday, coalition forces caught a man believed to be the al-Qaida in Iraq emir of Tikrit. The man was caught with three other suspects.

Yesterday in Baghdad, coalition forces detained two
terrorism suspects while targeting a man who allegedly operateed multiple bombing cells in the city.

In other Iraq news yesterday, five Iraqis were killed and 30 were wounded in two separate attacks in Baghdad. Two Iraqis were killed and 20 were wounded in a bombing in Baghdad's western district of Mansour. Three Iraqis were killed, and 10 were wounded when an enemy fighter threw a grenade from a vehicle outside the northeastern end of Baghdad's International Zone.

Also yesterday, several weapons caches were recovered by U.S. and Iraqi forces:

-- U.S. soldiers recovered a weapons cache in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The cache held three 60 mm mortar tubes, two 82 mm mortar tubes, a 120 mm mortar tube, 16 82 mm mortar rounds, 15 60 mm mortar rounds, pounds of plastic explosives and a bag of ammunition.

-- Iraqi soldiers found eight 81 mm artillery rounds, fuses, a silencer and a bag of gunpowder in Baghdad's Sadr City district.

-- In the Shulla area of Kadhamiyah, Iraqi soldiers seized a cache on the grounds of a mosque. The cache included an improvised explosive device, a 60 mm mortar round, a 127 mm artillery round, 19 sets of body armor, two vehicles, fuses, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, and dynamite.

-- In the Shurta area of Rashid, U.S. soldiers recovered 15 60 mm mortar rounds, two 82 mm mortar rounds, an RPG launcher and an RPG round.

-- Iraqi national
police and U.S. soldiers seized a weapons cache during a combined operation in the New Baghdad security district of eastern Baghdad. The cache held an explosively formed projectile, a 60 mm mortar system, a 155 mm artillery round, four RPGs, three grenades, five rifles, a set of body armor, blasting caps, and detonation wire.

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

1 comment:

Dr. John Maszka said...

Who exactly are the terrorists?
Take for example the recent trial of four US soldiers indicted for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and the murder of her parents and younger sister. This act was premeditated, and the bodies were burned with kerosene in an attempt to eliminate any evidence (Associated Press, 2007). Or take another recent story of a Marine squad leader who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for leading a plot with eight other Marines to kidnap and kill an Iraqi man in Hamandiya, Iraq. The squad “seized a middle-aged man from his bed in Hamandiya and shot him” (Perry, 2007). Unfortunately, crimes such as these are not isolated events. They have become far too common, and they reflect not only on the American military, but also on the American presence in the Middle East in general. They also strongly re-enforce the popular opinion regarding America’s obvious disregard for the welfare of these people.