Band of Brothers Soldiers Detain Suspects, Unearth Major Cache:
U.S. soldiers from Task Force Band of
Brothers scored successes in two operations this week.
Soldiers from the task force caught seven suspected insurgents in the
act of emplacing explosives yesterday. Soldiers on patrol with Battery
B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade
Combat Team, observed the suspects digging. As the patrol approached, the
suspects tried to flee in two vehicles. The soldiers stopped, searched
and detained all the suspects.
In one vehicle, a blue truck, soldiers discovered more than 120 mortar
rounds, fuses and four missiles. At the site where the individuals had
been digging, soldiers found a cache containing 250 artillery and
mortar rounds, two anti-personnel land mines, one anti-tank mine, and a hand
grenade. The munitions were taken to a secured location for controlled
detonation. The suspects are undergoing questioning, U.S. officials
said.
MARINES REPEL ATTACKS IN RAMADI:
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq � Coalition Forces responded to insurgent attacks at several locations in central Ramadi April 17, including the Ramadi Government Center and Fatemat Mosque.
The attacks, involving multiple homicide car bombs, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and heavy machine gun and small arms fire, occurred between 1 and 2 p.m. and appeared to be closely coordinated.
In one incident, Marines from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment were attacked from Fatemat Mosque in central Ramadi with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine gun fire and small arms fire. The Marines returned fire but continued to be attacked from the mosque�s minaret. The Marines fired one 120 mm tank round and several 7.62 mm machine gun rounds into the minaret, after which fire from the mosque ceased.
�This is the fourth time in three-and-a-half weeks that the Ramadi Government Center has received attacks from the Fatemat Mosque,� said Lt. Col. Stephen M. Neary, commander of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. �I�m extremely proud of my Marines � they only used the proportionate amount of force necessary to repel the insurgent attack.�
�Coalition Forces take significant measures to respect all religious sites,� said Marine spokesperson Lt. Col. Bryan Salas, �but we always maintain the inherent right of self-defense. When insurgents use holy places as safe havens from which to attack Coalition Forces, it is important that we act quickly to defend ourselves and innocent Iraqi civilians.�
FIVE TERRORISTS KILLED IN YUSIFIYAH, FIVE DETAINED:
BAGHDAD, Iraq � At approximately 2:15 a.m. April 16, Coalition forces raided a safe house in Yusifiyah, killing five terrorists and detaining five while searching for a wanted al Qaeda associate. Upon arrival at the identified hideout the troops received small arms fire, immediately returned fire, assaulted the building and ultimately neutralized the threat.
During the assault, five terrorists, three of them wearing suicide vests, were killed; five others, one of whom was wounded, were detained. Two of the suicide bombers were killed before either could detonate his vest, and the third detonated his body bomb killing only himself and injuring no one else.
After the terrorists initiated hostilities, one woman died, and three women and one child were injured. The wounded females and child were medically evacuated to the 10th CSH in Baghdad. All four were ambulatory.
Coalition forces confirmed that one of the five detained was the wanted al Qaeda terrorist for whom the troops were searching. The terrorist, whose name is currently being withheld, was involved in the planning and execution of improvised explosive device attacks and allegedly was associated with al Qaeda foreign fighter operations. The other four suspects are being assessed for knowledge of and involvement in terrorist activity.
The troops found four AK-47s, one pistol, several grenades and suicide vests (the three being worn) at the safe house. Explosives ordnance experts detonated the two remaining vests on-site. Most grenades were used by the enemy, and one grenade was found with the pin pulled, but not yet expended, in the hand of a dead terrorist.
Five Coalition members were injured during the raid, three of whom have already been returned to duty. The other two are in good condition and are expected to be returned to duty shortly.
IRAQI CITIZEN'S TIP LEADS TO MND-B SOLDIERS CAPTURING WEAPONS CACHES:
BAGHDAD, Iraq � Responding to a tip from an Iraqi citizen, Multi-National Division �Baghdad Soldiers found a weapons cache south of Baghdad April 17.
At approximately 6 p.m., while conducting a combat patrol, Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division received a tip from the local national that led the Soldiers to the cache.
The cache consisted of eight 250- to 500-pound aerial bombs stored in a steel cage and ready to be transported. The Soldiers contacted an explosive ordnance disposal team, which conducted a controlled detonation and destroyed the cache.
Earlier in the day, Soldiers from MND-B�s 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, discovered a cache while conducting a combat patrol southwest of Baghdad. The cache consisted of two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 15 rocket-propelled grenades, a mortar tube, a 60 mm round, two green star clusters (flares) and an Iraqi police vest.
The cache was turned over to an EOD team and rendered safe.
CACHE SITE CONTINUES TO PRODUCE MUNITIONS:
BAQUBAH, Iraq -- A large cache discovered in Diyala Province April 19 by Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers continues to yield munitions.
Soldiers from the 1st Bn., 1st Bde., 5th Iraqi Army Division and Alpha Troop, 1st Sqdr., 32nd Cav., 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, uncovered more mortars and artillery rounds April 20.
The initial find of nearly 50 mortar rounds and more than a dozen fuses was found to be much larger when an additional 250 artillery and mortar rounds of were unearthed in the same location.
WEAPONS CACHE DISCOVERED IN MOSUL:
MOSUL, Iraq � Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers discovered a large cache of weapons and IED making materials Thursday morning in Mosul based off a tip from a local citizen.
Soldiers from the 172nd Stryker Brigade seized more than 70 rocket-propelled grenade warheads, 26 mortar shells, more than 20 grenades, seven sniper rifles with scopes, and several thousand rounds of AK-47 ammunition.
The Soldiers also found 10 pounds of plastic explosive, detonation cord and various other components for constructing IEDs.
The confiscated items were transported to a secure location for disposal.
INSURGENT KILLED; FOUR SUSPECTS CAPTURED:
KIRKUK, Iraq � Bastogne Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division killed one insurgent and wounded another following an attack in Hawijah, Iraq April 12.
Soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment passed through a traffic control point during a combat patrol, when insurgents fired three rocket propelled grenades (RPG) at them. The Soldiers quickly spotted a white pick-up truck with the two insurgents inside and returned fire. The driver of the truck headed to a nearby village with the Bastogne Soldiers in pursuit.
Aviators in OH-58 helicopters secured the area from above while the Bastogne Soldiers searched the city for the truck. They located the truck with the body of one of the insurgents inside, and found a trail of blood from the other insurgent who had fled with the RPG launcher. The Soldiers were unable to locate the wounded insurgent. Bastogne Soldiers turned the body of the dead terrorist over to the Iraqi Police and resumed their patrol.
In another incident April 12, Soldiers spotted a suspect emplacing an improvised explosive device along a road near Hawijah. The Soldiers watched as the suspect, riding a blue motorcycle, stopped alongside the road, emplaced the bomb, and then drove to a mud hut where he linked up with another man. Following a short discussion, the two suspects settled in among a herd of sheep so they could witness the explosion.
When Coalition Forces arrived at the site, the two suspects fled from their hiding place, leaving a transmission device and camcorder under a nearby bush. After a short search, the Soldiers, along with an explosive ordnance disposal unit, confirmed the existence of the IED as well as a secondary bomb placed on the road nearby.
Bastogne Soldiers tracked and detained the two suspects, confiscating a camera phone the insurgents had on them. As the Soldiers continued their search of the area, they discovered two more individuals with IED making materials. All four suspects were detained for questioning.
THREE SUSPECTS DETAINED, ONE MAN KILLED IN BAGHDAD:
BAGHDAD, Iraq � Based on actionable intelligence, Coalition forces raided a house in Baghdad at approximately 10:00 p.m., April 13, killing one man and detaining three suspects during a search for al Qaeda terrorists. As troops approached a potential safe house, two suspects located in an adjacent courtyard opened fire at the troops. Coalition forces returned fire at the two suspects, killing one man and detaining the other.
The man who was killed was later identified as a retired officer in the Iraqi Air Force serving under the Saddam Hussein regime. The male who initiated the gunfire is a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist for whom the troops were searching, as well as the retired officer�s son.
Coalition Forces then searched the house and detained two more males and found the shooter�s pistol, an AK-47 and ammunition for both weapons.
No women or children were injured during this operation.
IED EMPLACERS CAPTURED NEAR BAYJI:
TIKRIT, Iraq � Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers captured two men near Bayji and safely destroyed an IED the men were setting up April 12.
A coalition aircraft saw the men stringing wire from the IED to a nearby hiding place and a patrol from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division was sent to investigate.
The Soldiers captured the terrorists without incident and the men led the troops to the hidden IED.
An explosive ordnance disposal team safely conducted a controlled detonation of the three artillery shells that comprised the IED.
KIDNAPPER CAPTURED, VICTIMS FREED:
TIKRIT, Iraq � Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers captured a kidnapping suspect at a traffic control point near Tikrit on the morning of April 13.
A driver who stopped at the checkpoint told Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, that a man in a vehicle behind him had kidnapped a family.
The Soldiers identified the kidnapper�s vehicle and detained the suspect. A local woman and her four children were in the vehicle and freed.
The suspect was turned over to the local police.
BIN LADEN ASSOCIATE KILLED IN IRAQ:
BAGHDAD, Iraq � Coalition and Iraqi forces killed a wanted terrorist, Rafid Ibrahim Fattah aka Abu Umar al Kurdi, during an early morning raid March 27 in the vicinity of Abu Ghraib. Officials report and confirm that Abu Umar al Kurdi had ties to Jaysh al Islami, Ansar al Sunnah, Taliban members in Afghanistan, Pakistani-based extremists, and al Qaeda senior leaders to include Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri.
Over the past six months, the targeted terrorist worked as a Jaysh al Islami cell leader in Baquba and allegedly was involved in the kidnapping of an Iraqi woman. Abu Umar al Kurdi traveled extensively throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq over the past 15 years and met and formed a relationship with al Qaeda senior leaders in 1999 while in Afghanistan. In the 1980s he formed ties with the Muslim Brotherhood while in Iran and Pakistan, and then he joined the jihad in Afghanistan in 1989. Within months he was given the title of an al Qaeda ambassador and attended military training camps near Jalabad where Osama bin Laden often visited. In 1991 he returned to the Muslim Brotherhood in Peshawar and in 1992 moved to Iraq, joining the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan. Throughout the 1990s until his death, Abu Umar al Kurdi moved between Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan holding various positions to include serving as a liaison between terrorist networks, as an operations officer responsible for coordinating the activities of the various terrorist groups, and as a security chief for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
A detainee who admitted his own affiliation with JAI claimed that Abu Umar al Kurdi recruited him into the terrorist organization. The detainee claims he joined in Sept. 2004 when Abu Umar al Kurdi introduced him to the leader of JAI.
The detainee also told officials that Abu Umar al Kurdi kidnapped and murdered a female hostage several months ago. Officials confirmed the hostage taking and are currently investigating the alleged murder.
IRAQI ARMY SOLDIERS DISCOVER MUTIPLE WEAPON CACHES:
BAGHDAD, Iraq � Four weapons caches were uncovered during the continuation of a combined operation between Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division � Baghdad Soldiers in southern Baghdad April 10.
In the early morning hours, Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and Company D, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, conducted a search in the Tigris River valley to locate suspected weapons caches.
During the first phase of the operation, Iraqi Army Soldiers found pre-made roadside-bombs, encased in concrete, ready to be transported and used against Coalition Forces, said Capt. Jared Rudacille, commander, Company D, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt. During the second phase of the operation, the Iraqi Army and MND-B units air assaulted into the area to find additional caches not found during the first phase, he added.
In total, the four weapons caches consisted of seven RPG rounds, three machine guns, 28 70 mm mortar rounds, 38 60mm mortar rounds, landmines, a large bag of homemade explosives, a sniper rifle, grenades, 13 pre-made roadside-bombs, ten rockets, 403 linked rounds of small arms ammunition, three bags of linked ammunition and 5,000 rounds of sniper-rifle rounds.
Once the caches were under control of an EOD team, the Soldiers moved on to destroy five boats used to transport weapons across the Tigris River.
�This area is a staging area for attacks both across the Tigris and into our area of operations as well,� said 2nd Lt. James Stephan, assistant security officer for 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt. �The weapons and material found here confirm our suspicions that the enemy is concentrated heavily along the palm groves and riverbanks in the area.�
LOCAL NATIONAL LEADS PATROL TO CACHE SITE:
BAQUBAH, Iraq � A local national led Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry, attached to 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, to a cache location north of Baqubah April 12.
Found at the site were 19 155 mm artillery rounds and 21 mortar rounds of various calibers.
The site may have been a training site of insurgents. The cache was transported to a secured location for controlled detonation.
COALITION FORCES CONDUCT RAID NORTHWEST OF BALAD:
BAGHDAD, Iraq � Coalition Forces raided a safe house at 4:20 a.m. April 13, approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Balad, capturing two and killing two terrorists. One of the terrorists killed was wearing a suicide vest.
The forces were attempting to capture the terrorists, two of whom were already positioned together outside when the troops arrived. The forces shot and killed two when they identified one was wearing a suicide vest and the other was armed with an AK-47.
One detainee was apprehended immediately when the troops approached the safe house, and the other was detained during a search of the terrorist hide out.
Additionally, the troops found an explosives cache near the house, and subsequently destroyed the lethal material.
No civilians were injured during the conduct of this raid.
IRAQI, MND-B SOLDIERS CAPTURE FIVE TERRORISTS:
BAGHDAD � Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Iraqi Army Division and Multi-National Division � Baghdad�s 1st Battalion, 66th Armor, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, captured a wanted terrorist in western Baghdad April 13 while conducting a combined patrol.
While searching an abandoned house, members of the patrol noticed three suspicious men atop a building suspected to be an insurgent stronghold.
Realizing they had been seen, the men fled. The patrol gave chase and captured two men, one of whom has alleged links to recent terrorist attacks.
A third man surrendered himself as the Iraqi Soldiers were detaining the others.
As the Soldiers surrounded the building, a vehicle approached. When the driver saw the other three suspects in custody, he attempted to flee the scene. An Iraqi Soldier stopped the vehicle with a warning shot, and the two vehicle occupants were detained for questioning.
IRAQI FORCES TAKE LEAD IN OPERATION COBRA STRIKE:
FOB ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq � Iraqi Army Soldiers are gradually taking the lead in all operations in Haswah and Iskandariyah, stabilizing the northern Babil province.
Soldiers from 4th Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, recently conducted Operation Cobra Strike with Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
�We are increasingly pushing the Iraqi Army to the foreground while we stay in the background,� said Capt. Colin Brooks, commander, Co. B, 2nd Bn., 8th Inf. Regt.
Cobra Strike was a mission intended to locate the suspected leader and financier of a terrorist cell working in the area. The suspected terrorists were implicated in murders, kidnappings and the emplacement of roadside-bombs throughout Haswah and Iskandariyah.
Led by Capt. Hazem, commander, 4th Co., Iraqi leadership planned the scheme of maneuver for the operation. Coalition Forces were on hand to provide an advisory role and blocking positions on the outer cordon of the objectives.
�It was good to actually plan an entire mission without the help of others,� said Hazem. �Although the Cobras are our brothers, my men needed to do something like this to prove to everyone that we are capable of defending our region.�
The Cobra Soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts, the Sabers, have conducted combined missions since 2nd Bn., 8th Inf. Regt., arrived in theater in early December. This was the first mission solely orchestrated by the Iraqi Army.
�It is critical that they are seen as a credible fighting force in the region,� said Brooks. �We are approaching the day very soon that they take control of the area�s battle space and have minimal help from Coalition Forces.�
Hazem maintained efficient communications during the operation with his Soldiers, who were working at two separate objectives, and with Brooks. The successful planning resulted in the capture of the cell leader. The financier was not at home during the operation.
�Every time we catch an intended target, the confidence increases in my men,� Hazem said.
The successes the Iraqi Army continues to achieve has resulted in a clear transition of enemy attacks intended more towards Iraqi Security Forces rather than Coalition Forces, Brooks said. It is a testament that they are a viable threat.
�Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job in the Haswah and Iskandariyah area,� Brooks remarked. �We are almost there. (The IAs) can see a brighter future, and they are proud to play a role.�
�I couldn�t be any more proud of the way my men have performed,� added Hazem. �Terrorists are not welcome in Iraq. If they want to test us, they will end up in jail like the man we captured this night.�
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