Free Republic

Baghdad – Multi-National Force – Iraq’s Task Force 134 – Detainee Operations transferred custody of 39 high-value detainees who were former members of the regime of Saddam Hussein to the Government of Iraq, Monday, Dec. 15. The detainees were all transferred from the Coalition theater internment facility at Camp Cropper in Baghdad to an Iraqi-controlled prison. These detainees are all either already convicted or are scheduled to stand trial in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. The detainees had been held in U.S. detention since their capture. Their recent transfer is in recognition that the Iraqi criminal courts and prison...

FOB LOYALTY — Patriot Brigade Soldiers scored another victory as they took a high value target (HVT) off the streets of Rusafa in eastern Baghdad, July 1. Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment Soldiers conducted a search mission targeting an HVT after receiving a citizen tip. The individual was suspected in placing roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices (IED) and explosively formed penetrators (EFP) within 3rd Sqdn. 89th Cav. Regt.’s operating environment, said Staff Sgt. Adelbert Capen, lead scout for Troop A. “The overall mission was a success,” said Capen, who hails from Springbrook, Wis. “We took the target that...

BAGHDAD — The strong working relationship between Multi-National Division – Baghdad and the Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) led directly to the capture of key terrorist at approximately 9 p.m. on April 28. During a meeting with a local sheik and other citizens, a Sons of Iraq member indicated that a known key terrorist was nearby. The SoI member detained two suspects and turned them over to MND-B soldiers for further identification. One of the suspects was positively identified as a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda of Iraq. The captured terrorist is a prominent member of an al-Qaeda in Iraq cell...

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2008 – U.S. soldiers captured an individual designated a “high-value target” for his role in several improvised explosive device attacks during a raid in Narhwan, Iraq, March 16. Capt. Jared Albright, commander of Troop B, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, searches a building during a night raid in Narhwan, Iraq, March 16. During the raid, Troop B cleared three houses and detained four individuals, including a man designated as a "high-value target." U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ben Hutto  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Coalition forces also suspect the individual of smuggling weapons and explosives...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2008 – As the security situation has improved in the southern belts of Baghdad, coalition officials find themselves more involved with building local governance capacity and creating jobs. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of Multinational Division Center, said that when his unit arrived in March, there were 25 attacks a day on coalition and Iraqi troops. Now that number has dropped to an average of three a day. This has allowed him to spend more time working with local tribal and city leaders in building their governance capabilities. “As a division commander, I spend roughly 30...

Soldiers from the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment search a suspected insurgent during a night raid east of Baghdad Sept. 30. The raid, conducted with Iraqi national police, resulted in the detention of a high-value individual and a small cache. Photo by Maj. Joseph Sowers. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Elements of the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment and Iraqi national policemen conducted a raid east of Baghdad resulting in the detention of a high-value individual and three other suspected extremists Sept. 30.Soldiers from Troop A and the Time-Sensitive Target platoon of the 3-1 Cav. Regt. conducted the raid with...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces captured a suspected terrorist with close ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) in a raid Thursday in Kharnabat near Baqubah. No shots were fired when Coalition Forces conducted a raid to capture or kill a highly-sought operative with connections to senior leaders of the IRGC-QF. The captured terrorist is suspected of facilitating the transport of weapons and personnel from Iran into Iraq. The captured terrorist is also believed to have facilitated the flow of deadly Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs) into Iraq from Iran to be used against Coalition Forces. During the raid,...

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – A detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who previously lived in the United States, denied he had any involvement with an al Qaeda group or had planned to reenter the country to commit a terrorist act. Majid Khan, a native of Pakistan whose family lives in Baltimore, Md., insisted during his Feb. 8 combatant status review tribunal hearing that he is not an enemy combatant. Pentagon officials today released a transcript of the hearing held at the Guantanamo facility. The tribunal was an administrative hearing to determine only if Khan meets the criteria to be...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2006 – An Iraqi police chief survived an insurgent ambush Oct. 3, urging his troops to continue the mission, and Iraqi and U.S. soldiers captured three high-value terrorists and 25 others in Baghdad Oct. 3, military officials in Iraq reported today. The Iraqi police chief was wounded when his patrol was ambushed while in pursuit of suspected insurgents in the city of Baghdadi, Iraq. Col. Shaban al Obeidi was evacuated to a nearby U.S. military medical facility by helicopter for treatment and was reported in good condition. One policeman was killed in the attack. When asked if...

Pakistan produces the goods, again By Syed Saleem Shahzad KARACHI - When US Central Command commander General John Abizaid visited Islamabad last week, his first priority was not Pakistan sending troops to Iraq, but the arrest of high-value al-Qaeda targets. Almost magically, just days later, a Tanzanian al-Qaeda operative, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was arrested in the Punjab provincial city of Gujrat. He is wanted in the United States in connection with the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. He was one of the United States' 22 most-wanted terrorists, and had a US$5 million bounty on his...

This spring, the [Bush] administration significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban's Mullah Mohammed Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan... ...This public pressure would be appropriate, even laudable, had it not been accompanied by an unseemly private insistence that the Pakistanis deliver these high-value targets (HVTs) before Americans go to the polls in November.