Troops in Iraq Capture Four Suspects, Seize Weapons

American Forces Press Service

July 9, 2008 - Coalition and Iraqi forces detained four suspects and seized caches of weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. Coalition forces captured two suspected members of Iranian-backed "special groups" today during operations in Baghdad's Shula district, military officials said.

One of the suspects is a senior member of a Baghdad-based cell who received weapons and intelligence training in Iran and acts as an agent of the Islamic Republic, according to an associate detained in a prior operation.

During two-day operations that culminated yesterday, Iraqi National Police and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained two suspects and confiscated weapons in southern Baghdad's Rashid district.

Troops captured the suspects in the Saha neighborhood before delivering them to a coalition forces combat outpost for questioning. Earlier, combined forces in the Bayaa community discovered 75 assault rifles, military officials said.

On July 7, coalition soldiers found two weapons caches in a Christian cemetery south of Baqouba. The caches consisted of rocket launchers and rockets, grenades, assault rifles with ammunition, and bomb-making materials.

"This cache find demonstrates that we continue to add pressure on criminals who conduct indiscriminate attacks and eliminate their illegal weapons and disruptive accelerants as they attempt to run and hide," Army Maj. Jon Pendell, a 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment spokesman, said.

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