Coalition, Iraqi Forces Kill Six, Detain 17

American Forces Press Service

July 21, 2008 - Coalition and Iraqi forces killed six enemy fighters and detained 17 suspected terrorists during recent operations in Iraq, military officials said. Today in Baghdad and Mosul, Coalition forces captured 10 suspected terrorists during separate operations..

U.S. troops in Mosul detained an alleged al-Qaida leader and two other suspects. The suspected leader is believed to be a senior advisor to a terrorist network there, and "is believed to conspire with other terrorist leaders to conduct attacks and impose extremist ideals" on the citizens there, officials said.

Coalition forces detained six suspected terrorists in Baghdad. The individuals allegedly worked with an extremist group in support of al-Qaida's propaganda network, officials said.

In operations yesterday:

-- U.S. and Iraqi forces killed six Iranian-backed "special groups" members and detained two suspected members during operations in Baghdad. Iraqi forces captured the individuals in Sadr City before moving to a location suspected of housing weapons in the New Baghdad district. The Iraqi troops came under attack, but killed two enemy fighters immediately. They came under attack a second time, receiving gunfire from a nearby building. Coalition aircraft arrived and fired missiles, causing much damage to the building, but the insurgents maintained their attack. Iraqis forces eventually killed four more insurgents, officials said.

-- Coalition forces arrested one individual for his alleged association with the Hezbolla Brigade, which officials said "is an offshoot of Iranian-trained special groups." The suspect is believed to be a propaganda expert responsible for uploading to the Internet videos and images from insurgent attacks on coalition forces, officials said.

-- Iraqi soldiers discovered a weapons cache in Sadr City during a security patrol. They found 15 rocket-propelled grenades with four chargers, a mortar tube with base, a semi-automatic machine gun and more than 300 machine-gun rounds, officials said. Throughout the past 60 days in Sadr City, Iraq forces have confiscated more than 230 weapons and munitions caches, including more than 1,000 various artillery rounds and rockets as well as 280 homemade bombs and bomb-making materials, officials said.

-- U.S. troops and Iraqi police found six explosive devices specifically designed to pierce armor-hulled vehicles, four rocket-propelled grenades, an artillery round and a homemade bomb in New Baghdad.

In operations July 19:

-- U.S. soldiers detained one known and two suspected terrorists during operations in Baghdad's Rashid district.

-- Coalition forces captured two men in Baghdad suspected of associating with a bombing cell in northern Baghdad.

-- U.S. troops and Iraqi police discovered a rocket, a block of bulk explosives and numerous amounts of bomb-making materials during operations in Baghdad.

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