Coalition Captures Kataib Hezbollah Suspects, Numerous Others

American Forces Press Service

Aug. 26, 2008 - Coalition forces captured two suspected Kataib Hezbollah associates during operations this morning in Baghdad, military officials reported. Kataib Hezbollah, also known as Hezbollah Brigades, is a terrorist group believed to receive funding, training, logistics and material support from Iran to attack Iraqi and coalition forces using what the military calls "explosively formed penetrators" – roadside bombs designed to pierce armor-hulled vehicles – and other weapons such as rocket-assisted mortars.

Acting on intelligence tips, coalition forces targeted a propaganda facilitator for Kataib Hezbollah. It is believed he was involved in editing and posting of attack videos against coalition and Iraqi forces, officials said. Coalition forces stopped a vehicle, and after questioning the occupants, determined the driver was the wanted man. He and one other suspect were detained without incident.

Officials said coalition forces now have captured 14 suspected Kataib Hezbollah operatives in the last three weeks.

In other developments, coalition forces captured several wanted men during operations that rounded up eight suspected al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists in central and northern Iraq yesterday and today.

Coalition forces detained a wanted man during a raid yesterday west of Sharqat, about 90 kilometers south of Mosul. The man is believed to help foreign terrorists move into and around Iraq to conduct attacks for al-Qaida. An operation today farther south in Beiji targeting the same network netted two suspects.

Using information from an Aug. 16 operation, coalition forces today captured a suspected associate of al-Qaida senior leaders during an operation in Mosul. The man also is believed to help foreign terrorists move into Iraq to conduct attacks.

Another man captured today in Mosul allegedly transported suicide-bombing recruits from the Iraq-Syria border to Mosul for future attacks. He also is believed to be a liaison for al-Qaida senior leaders who, according to recent detainee reporting, are having difficulty moving freely in the city.

Just south of Mosul, coalition forces captured a man today who reportedly plans attacks in the Hamim al-Alil area.

In Baghdad today, coalition forces disrupted plans for an imminent bombing attack when they captured a wanted man reportedly working for a car-bombing cell in the city.

Coalition forces continued to target members of an al-Qaida bombing network that operates in the Tigris River Valley, and detained a suspect yesterday in Tikrit. The suspect allegedly supplies trigger devices to bombing cells in the area.

In other operations yesterday:

-- Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained three suspected criminals in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, arrested the three suspects during a point-specific target operation in the Jihad neighborhood.

-- Iraqi security forces detained five suspects in connection with a roadside-bomb attack against Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers yesterday. Iraqi soldiers detained the five Iraqis, who were found at the origin of a command-detonated bomb in the Saydiyah community of southern Baghdad's Rashid district. The suspects were taken to a combat outpost for questioning.

-- Based on information from a "Sons of Iraq" citizen security group leader, soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Combat Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Battalion, removed 36 grenade fuses in the Adhamiyah area of Baghdad.

-- Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, found six 120 mm mortar rounds, a 60 mm mortar round, a 125 mm high-explosive round, and an 82 mm mortar base plate in the Kadamiyah area of Baghdad.

-- Soldiers in Company B, 153rd Infantry Battalion, Task Force Tomahawk, found nine 125 mm high-explosive projectiles in the Rashid district.

-- Iraqi security forces, working with Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers, discovered two weapons caches yesterday in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Iraqi National Police captured 37 60 mm mortar rounds in the Furat community in southwestern Rashid. At about the same time, Iraqi citizens turned in two rocket-propelled grenades and a 57 mm rocket to the National Police headquarters in the Risalah community in the Rashid district. Iraqi soldiers found a cache in the Saydiyah neighborhood that consisted of two 60 mm mortar rounds, three soda-can roadside bombs, an RPG round, two electrical blasting caps and two timers.

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