Coalition Forces in Iraq Net al-Qaida Suspects; Iraqis Find Weapons

American Forces Press Service

July 7, 2008 - Coalition forces in Iraq captured 11 suspected al-Qaida operatives in Mosul and Balad, while Iraqi soldiers in Kadhamiyah found a cache of weapons and explosives today, military officials said. In Mosul, coalition troops detained a wanted person linked to al-Qaida, along with six other suspects.

In Balad, coalition forces detained four suspected al-Qaida operatives linked to bombing attacks in Iraq's Salahuddin province.

Iraqi soldiers found a weapons cache containing a bomb designed to pierce armor-hulled vehicles, four canisters of riot gas, an improvised claymore mine, and 2 pounds of explosive in Kadhamiyah, Iraq. A disposal team took possession of the munitions and transported them to a U.S. base.

In yesterday's operations in Iraq:

-- Coalition forces in the Balad area detained two suspects believed to be involved in helping terrorists conduct bombing attacks.

-- A local sheik in Tarmiyah turned in a munitions cache to U.S. soldiers. The munitions consisted of a bag of homemade explosives, a roadside bomb, homemade grenades, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, a mortar tube with base plate, a 120 mm mortar, 60 mm mortars, rifles with silencers, 10 14.7 mm rounds, a drum of 7.62 mm ammunition, and two cases of 7.62 mm rounds.

-- An Iraqi citizen was killed and 10 others were wounded as the result of an explosion in northern Baghdad. Iraqi police arrived on the scene to transport the wounded and secure the area. The incident is under investigation.

In other news, Iraqi soldiers found a weapons cache and detained two suspects during July 4 operations in Amarah. The cache contained three armor-piercing roadside bombs, 20 155 mm artillery rounds, three anti-tank mines, 20 rocket-propelled grenades, an anti-personnel RPG, three RPG launchers, 21 grenades, three spools of detonation wire, six voltage meters, three camera flashes, and a pair of new assault rifles.

On July 3, an informant's tip led Iraqi and U.S. soldiers to a series of weapons caches in Sayafiyah. The U.S. and Iraqi troops found eight caches in the area, 35 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Among the weapons uncovered were a 23 mm anti-aircraft gun, sniper rifles, five rocket launchers, two anti-tank mines, seven 82 mm mortars, four 120 mm mortars, three 60 mm mortars, five 57 mm anti-aircraft rounds, 23 RPGs, more than 1,000 rounds of assorted ammunition, fuses, multiple AK-47 components and miscellaneous primers, detonators and bomb-making materials.

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