Coalition Troops Kill Weapons Facilitator, Capture Terror Suspects

American Forces Press Service

Sept. 3, 2008 - Coalition forces killed an al-Qaeda in Iraq weapons facilitator and detained eight suspected terrorists during operations targeting the terrorist network in the Tigris River Valley yesterday, military officials reported. Coalition forces killed a weapons facilitator in Tikrit during an operation to disrupt the al-Qaida in Iraq bombing network in the area. Officials said intelligence reports indicate the man was trafficking rockets and bombing components for a Tikrit-based cell, and may have had ties to the al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda network.

When coalition forces called out for occupants of the target building to surrender, several people came out, but they told the force one man was still inside. During a security sweep of the building, coalition forces found the terrorist, dressed in women's clothing and hiding under a bed with a rifle and military-style assault vest.

Perceiving hostile intent, officials said coalition forces engaged and killed the man, who later was determined to be the weapons facilitator. Coalition forces detained five suspected terrorists during the operation and found several weapons, body armor and bomb components.

Another suspected member of the same Tikrit-based al-Qaida in Iraq bombing cell was detained during a separate operation in the city. The suspect allegedly worked as a weapons facilitator with the man who was killed in the other Tikrit operation. Outside his house, coalition forces found a cache containing ammunition and a roadside bomb designed to penetrate armor-hulled vehicles, which they safely removed from the area.

Farther south, coalition forces targeted liaisons between senior al-Qaida in Iraq leaders during an operation near Tarmiyah, about 25 miles north of Baghdad. Two suspected terrorists were detained.

In other operations yesterday, coalition forces detained six suspected terrorists in the northern part of the country while targeting al-Qaida in Iraq network leaders.

As part of the continuing effort to destabilize the al-Qaida in Iraq facilitation network that brings foreign terrorists into the country to attack civilians and security forces, coalition forces detained two suspects in Beiji, about 100 miles south of Mosul.

Two more operations in Beiji targeted al-Qaida in Iraq leaders from Diyala province in eastern Iraq. Coalition forces detained three suspected terrorists in the operations. Farther north, coalition forces targeted a member of the al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda network in Mosul and detained a suspected terrorist.

In other news from Iraq, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained several suspected criminals and terrorists during a series of searches in southern Baghdad's Rashid district Sept. 1 and yesterday.

Soldiers of Company B, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, arrested a known Iranian-backed "special groups" member.

At about the same time, Soldiers of Company A, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, detained a suspected terrorist cell leader during a reconnaissance mission in southern Baghdad's Saidiyah community. Later, soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, captured a known special groups platoon leader wanted for kidnapping and terrorizing Iraqi citizens.

Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, raided a house in Rashid's Aamel community early yesterday, detaining two people suspected of working with terrorists in southwestern Baghdad to conduct roadside bombings and car-bomb attacks against the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi people.

About an hour later, soldiers from the same unit detained three suspects during a target raid in Abu Tshir. The soldiers, working on precise military intelligence, captured a suspected financier who is believed to be responsible for supporting al-Qaida in Iraq fighters in northern Iraq, officials said.

In Sharqat yesterday, about 55 miles south of Mosul, coalition forces detained two wanted men and three additional suspects. One of the wanted men is believed to be a cell leader and senior advisor in an area stretching from Kirkuk to the Tigris River Valley. The other wanted man allegedly has ties to al-Qaida in Iraq senior leaders.

Coalition forces detained four suspected terrorists yesterday in Baghdad, including a man who reportedly is involved in a terrorist facilitation network. Intelligence reports indicate the group brings foreigners into Iraq and provides false documents to help them move around the country and conduct attacks against civilians.

Two suspected terrorists were detained in an operation targeting an al-Qaida in Iraq extortion cell yesterday in Mosul, and coalition forces discovered bomb-making materials with the suspects. A wanted man and an additional suspect were detained in Mosul Sept. 1 during an operation targeting the al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda network.

Coalition forces continued to strike al-Qaida in Iraq elements near the Hamrin Mountains on Sept. 1, detaining three suspected terrorists. One of the detainees is believed to conspire with an al-Qaida in Iraq leader who operates a kidnapping cell to finance other terrorist activities, officials said.

In northern Iraq, police in Tal Afar were informed of an enemy weapons stockpile Sept. 1. The police found 33 57mm rockets, 37 grenade-launcher rounds, 168 mortar shells, 40 rockets, and 44 anti-aircraft rounds.

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