Iraqi, U.S. Forces Kill Three al-Qaida Terrorists

American Forces Press Service

June 10, 2008 - Iraqi and coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained five suspects in northern Iraq today during operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq, military officials said. Iraqi and coalition forces captured an al-Qaida in Iraq member linked to terrorist activities during an operation in the Kirkuk area. Three armed men confronted the joint Iraqi-coalition force and refused to comply with instructions to surrender.

Iraqi and coalition forces engaged the armed men with small-arms fire and supporting aircraft, killing all three terrorists. Inside the target building, Iraqi and coalition forces discovered rocket-propelled grenades and homemade explosives, which they destroyed on site.

In another operation today, coalition forces employed detainee-provided information to target foreign terrorist facilitators in northwestern Iraq, detaining three suspects and destroying four terrorist hideouts.

Also today, information from a May 27 operation led coalition forces to Mosul, where they captured a wanted man believed to be involved in a Baghdad car-bombing network. One other suspected terrorist was detained in the operation.

"The combined forces are removing terrorists from northern Iraq, reducing the effectiveness of AQI and increasing the quality of life for the Iraqi citizens," said Navy Lt. David Russell, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.

Yesterday, Iraqi soldiers and police and U.S. soldiers discovered multiple weapons caches during a series of operations across Iraq.

In and around Baghdad:

-- U.S. soldiers discovered a cache in Baghdad's West Rashid district, consisting of two AK-47 rifles, a 9 mm pistol, 10 light machine gun ammunition drums, four extra machine gun barrels, and assorted weapons parts.

-- Iraqi and U.S. soldiers seized a weapons cache in Baghdad's Kadhamiya district. The cache contained four rocket-propelled grenades, nine rockets with propellant, four armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles, and more than 700 7.62 mm armor-piercing rounds.

-- Iraqi police found 47 AK-47 rifles, three sniper rifles and a Mauser rifle in the Ur area of Baghdad's Adhamiyah district.

-- North of Baghdad, Iraqi police seized two 155 mm artillery rounds with improvised-explosive-device fuses, two 122 mm artillery rounds attached to two propane tanks, four rocket-propelled grenades, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, 21 AK-47 rifles, six other-type rifles, a roll of command detonation wire, and a tripod.

-- In the Shaab area of Baghdad's Adhamiyah district, a local Iraqi alerted U.S. soldiers to a video camera that was filming the area in and around a combat outpost. U.S. 4th Infantry Division soldiers confiscated the camera and brought it to a nearby operating base for examination.

-- In the Neel area of Baghdad's Rusafa neighborhood, U.S. soldiers were alerted to a weapons cache turned in by several local residents and "Sons of Iraq" citizen security group members. The cache consisted of an IED, 80 57 mm anti-aircraft projectiles, 65 81 mm high-explosive mortar rounds, 30 120 mm illumination rounds, 12 60 mm high-explosive mortar rounds, six 81 mm illumination rounds, six 61 mm high-explosive mortar rounds, 10 grenades, eight RPGs, four RPG launchers, a 122 mm rocket, a 107 mm rocket, five rocket launchers, five 107 mm rocket motors, eight rocket motors, an anti-personnel mine and two rocket motor propellant charges.

-- U.S. soldiers received a tip from an Iraqi resident about a large weapons cache northwest of Baghdad. The soldiers found 163 60 mm mortar rounds, 84 82 mm mortar rounds, and 43 81 mm mortar rounds.

-- Iraqi police found two 82 mm mortar rounds and three AK-47s in the Risalah area of Baghdad's Rashid district.

-- A group of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers seized 25 60 mm mortar rounds, 19 82 mm mortar rounds, five RPGs, 64 sticks of TNT, a mortar tube, and several fuses in the Saydiyah area of Baghdad's Rashid district.

-- A Sons of Iraq leader northwest of Baghdad turned in six rocket-propelled grenades, 42 RPG propellant chargers, and a rifle to U.S. soldiers.

Yesterday in Baghdad's Sadr City section:

-- Iraqi troops found four explosively formed projectiles, 15 pounds of homemade explosives, 26 120 mm mortar rounds, a 120 mm mortar round fins, three 82 mm mortar fuses, 15 60 mm mortar rounds, seven rocket propelled grenades, two RPG launchers, a detonating device, a spool of wire, 70 blasting caps, a 82 mm mortar system with base plate and bipod, a 60 mm homemade mortar tube, 24 AK-47s, two SKS rifles, a PKC barrel, a sniper rifle, 300 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, 40 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition, and four military helmets.

-- Other Iraqi soldiers seized 14 AK-47s, five sniper rifles and two other rifles.

-- Another group of Iraqi soldiers seized three 122 mm rockets, an anti-tank rocket, an AK-47, a flare, a battery, and detonation wire. A man was detained.

-- Another contingent of Iraqi soldiers seized a locally made rocket from an abandoned bus.

-- An Iraqi military patrol uncovered a weapons cache at a school. The weapons included three IEDs, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, a mortar base plate, and a rocket.

-- Another group of Iraqi soldiers discovered a cache containing a 60 mm mortar, a 155 mm round IED, three 120 mm IEDs, two AK-47 rifles, a submachine gun and a rifle. Soldiers in the same unit later found two more caches that contained seven AK-47 rifles, three rockets, three anti-tank grenades, four rocket-propelled grenades, 10 rifle magazines, two rocket-propellant charges, a sub-machine gun, a rifle, a concussion grenade, a cell phone, and two flak jackets.

Yesterday in Basra, Iraqi police found a large cache of explosives and explosively formed projectiles inside a residence in the city's Fursi district. Residents greeted police in the street as they arrived to discover more than 650 pounds of bulk explosive, more than 330 pounds of C4, seven large-body EFPs, 15 smaller-body EFPs, a reel of detonation cord, a large amount of armor-piercing ammunition, and a machine gun barrel. The cache was in a hole cut in the wall of a room in the back of the house.

"This is just another sign that the fine citizens of Basra want to get rid of the evil in their city," said Army Capt. Chris McNair, a spokesman for Multinational Division Southeast. "The fact that someone called in a tip to direct police to these dangerous munitions means there are citizens of Basra who want a safe place to raise their children."

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