Free Republic

Per a news release from yesterday, Muqtada al-Sadr plans to disarm the Mahdi militia, and change it to a social services organization that focuses on education, religion and social justice... all without weaponry. Recently, however, the group has been hit by a largely successful Iraqi military crackdown against militia members operating as criminal gangs. At the same time, Mr. Sadr's popular support is dwindling: Residents who once viewed the Mahdi Army as champions of the poor became alienated by what they saw as its thuggish behavior. A new brochure, obtained by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Mr. Sadr's...

BAGHDAD — The militia that was once the biggest defender of poor Shiites in Iraq, the Mahdi Army, has been profoundly weakened in a number of neighborhoods across Baghdad, in an important, if tentative, milestone for stability in Iraq. It is a remarkable change from years past, when the militia, led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, controlled a broad swath of Baghdad, including local governments and police forces. But its use of extortion and violence began alienating much of the Shiite population to the point that many quietly supported American military sweeps against the group. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal...

For those do not know much about the apocalyptic President of Iran, he is a true believer of Islam. He is awaiting for the return of the Mahdi(the 12th Imam) who went missing in the 9th century. For him to return there has to be world chaos with blood running on the planet. The President of Iran has already been making preparations for the Mahdi's return.

QOM, Iran -- Iran's president believes Allah has chosen him to prepare the world for the coming of an Islamic 'savior' called the Mahdi. But before the Mahdi's return, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes there must be global chaos - even if he has to create it himself. Whether it's his belief that Israel should be wiped off the map, denials of the Holocaust, obsession with going nuclear, or support for radical Islamic terrorist groups, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a man on a divine mission. To understand him, and that mission, you have travel to the small dusty village of Jamkaran tucked in...

Iraqi and US troops continue to press the offensive against the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army during a series of raids throughout Iraq. Since July 18, US and Iraqi forces have killed six Mahdi Army fighters and captured 18 during operations in central Iraq. Scores more have been captured, including senior leaders, weapons smugglers, financiers, trainers, and cell leaders. The raids have been driven by intelligence, much of it gleaned from captive Mahdi Army fighters, according to information contained in Multinational Forces Iraq press releases. Captive Mahdi Army leaders and cell members are providing US and Iraqi forces information on leaders and...

Gordon Brown to condemn Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Gordon Brown will pledge "unbreakable" support to Israel while launching his strongest attack yet on Iran. The Prime Minister will send a tough message to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday, warning of imminent sanctions on oil and gas if he does not abandon his nuclear ambitions. In a landmark speech to the Israeli parliament, Mr Brown will say that Mr Ahmadinejad's denial of Israel's right to exist is "totally abhorrent". The European Union has already said it stands ready to push for a block on foreign investment in new Iranian...

UPDATED: War clouds continue to build in the epicenter. Last month in Rome, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that the United States and Israel would soon be "annihilated," language he had not used so explicitly since October 2005 when he promised to wipe Israel "off the map" and urged Muslims to "envision a world without the United States." This week, his regime authorized a new series of Iranian war games. He ordered the digging of 320,000 graves to bury the enemies of Islam. He is calling for the unification of the Islamic world politically and economically, including the creation of...

After successful efforts to restore order in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, as well as Basra and Mosul, Iraqi security forces now are focused on conducting anti-insurgent operations in the southeastern city of Amarah, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today. Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll told reports during a Baghdad news conference that Iraq’s soldiers and police are doing “their job to make sure the citizens of this country are no longer intimidated by terrorists and extremist militias and their work is being followed by other areas of government.” On June 18, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri...

[...] Adnan Oktar -- the 52-year-old Turk behind the pseudonym Harun Yahya -- caught the attention of scientists and teachers in Europe and North America by mass-mailing them his 768-page "Atlas of Creation". His lavishly illustrated book preaches a Muslim version of creationism [...] Well-illustrated and free of theological jargon, they preach that Islam is the one true faith and Darwinism, by undermining religious belief, has led to the discord, atheism, terrorism and extreme political ideologies plaguing the world. [...] JESUS RETURNS AS A MUSLIM [...] Oktar says the "Atlas of Creation" campaign and Harun Yahya publishing empire are part...

What drives Ahmadinejad? Iranian president wants to set stage for appearance of Shiite messiahBy Jonathan Halevi and Ashley Perry Published: 06.17.08, 00:43 Shiite Iran is striving to attain the position of regional superpower en route to becoming a significant nuclear power on the international stage. Iran openly challenges the West in its attempt to eject the Americans and British from Iraq and attain hegemony in the Persian Gulf region, supported among other, by its military program, massively built up in recent years. The Iranian leadership talks of a “New Middle East” in response to the West, which would be an...

The Iraqi security forces have entered the northern regions of Sadr City on Tuesday. Dubbed Operation Salam, or Peace, thousands of Iraqi troops moved into the Mahdi Army stronghold just before dawn and took up positions at strategic points throughout Sadr City. "Operation Salam is going in accordance with well-planned and organized steps," Major General Qassem Atta told Voices of Iraq. Iraqi troops are tasked with securing the neighborhoods, arresting wanted individuals, and searching and seizing unlicensed weapons.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq – Special Groups criminals fired an 82 mm mortar at a Coalition force base that missed its target and landed near a market in the Karadah security district of Baghdad at 11:32 p.m. May 13. Approximately 30 minutes after the initial attack, the market near the impact of the criminal’s attack burned down. It is not known at this time if the incidents are related; however, Coalition force officials from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), are investigating an Iraqi National Police report attributing the cause of the fire to faulty electrical wiring...

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2008 – Iraqi and U.S. forces are making progress while performing counterinsurgency and reconstruction missions across Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said yesterday. Iraqi and coalition forces continue to make gains in establishing security and enforcing the rule of law in Baghdad, Mosul and Basra over the past week, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. In Basra, Iraqi forces involved in an operation dubbed “Sawlat al Fursan,” or “Charge of the Knights,” are busily removing illegal weapons, fighting and arresting insurgents and...

Clerics have told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stick to more worldly issues after he was quoted as saying the "hidden imam" of Shiite Islam was directing Iran. Ahmadinejad has always been a devotee of the Mahdi, the twelfth imam of Shiite Islam, who Shiites believe disappeared more than a thousand years ago and who will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony. But in a speech to theology students broadcast by state television on Monday, Ahmadinejad went further than ever before in emphasising his belief that the Mahdi is playing a critical role in...

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2008 – U.S. military officials in Iraq expressed optimism yesterday that a truce being worked out between the Iraqi government and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia will help reduce violence in Baghdad’s Sadr City section. “We welcome an end to violence and putting an end to criminal activity, so we are obviously in support of the government of Iraq as they move forward in a dialog with elements of the Sadr Trend,” Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said at a news conference. But Driscoll emphasized that it’s premature to call the...

Map of the disposition of Iraqi and US forces in and around Sadr City, and the progress on the barrier. The red portion has yet to be completed. Map courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq. US and Iraqi forces continue to strike at the Mahdi Army in Baghdad despite the agreement reached between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army late Friday. Seventeen Mahdi Army fighters were killed in northeastern Baghdad over the past 24 hours. Nine of the Mahdi Army fighters killed were killed in Sadr City: four Mahdi fighters were killed by an air weapons team as they planted...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers continue to deny criminals freedom of movement in and around the Adhamiyah and Sadr City districts of Baghdad May 10-11. At approximately 7:30 a.m. May 10, MND-B soldiers with Company D, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, returned precision fire and killed a criminal who attacked them with small-arms fire in Adhamiyah. At approximately 10:50 a.m., soldiers from Company C, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Infantry Regiment, returned precision fire and killed a criminal who attacked them with small-arms fire in Adhamiyah. At approximately 4 p.m. May 10, soldiers from Company E, 1-68 CAB,...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2008 – A U.S. Hellfire missile killed an insurgent near the site of a roadside-bomb attack in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district today, U.S. military officials said. A vehicle was destroyed while another insurgent fled the scene. “Our soldiers, along with the Iraqi security forces, continue to meet with the local populace to identify these criminal elements and eliminate the threat they pose,” said Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division spokesman. “We will continue to use precision fire to defend the Iraqi people and ourselves against these criminal elements.” In yesterday’s operations:...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad aerial weapons teams conducted operations against criminal elements in Baghdad May 10. Following an indirect-fire attack in central Baghdad, an MND-B AWT made positive identification of a rocket rail at the point of origin in the Sadr City district of Baghdad used to launch the attack. The AWT engaged a criminal element on site at approximately 6:40 a.m. with two Hellfire missiles. One criminal was killed, and the rocket rail and a shack were destroyed. Secondary explosions at the site also indicate that illegal weapons also were destroyed. At approximately 10 a.m., an AWT...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – BaghdadSoldiers killed eight criminals, who attacked Coalition force soldiers with rocketpropelled grenades and small-arms fire. ISF and MND-B Soldiers also seized four weapons caches during combat operations in Baghdad May 9 that continue to safeguard Iraqi citizens.At approximately 11:30 a.m., MND-B soldiers discovered an improvised explosive device and a 122 mm rocket off a tip from Iraqi National Police.At approximately 2 p.m., soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, killed three criminals who attacked their patrol with small-arms fire and RPGs.At approximately 2:20 p.m., soldiers from 1st Brigade...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq today killed nine enemy fighters and detained 13 suspects during a series of operations across the country that targeted al-Qaida and its foreign-terrorist network, military officials said. -- In Baghdad, coalition detained a wanted man who allegedly is part of al-Qaida operations north of the city. Another suspect also was detained. -- Sixty miles west of Baghdad, coalition forces captured a wanted man linked to the movement of terrorists into Iraq. -- Coalition forces detained 10 more suspected terrorists during operations in northwestern Iraq. -- Coalition forces used Hellfire missiles to...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – The people of Sadr City are cooperating with Iraqi forces, but clearing the crowded portion of Baghdad is a painstaking procedure, an Iraqi government spokesman said in Baghdad today. Tahseen al-Sheikhly and Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a coalition spokesman, discussed ongoing operations in Sadr City during a news conference. “We see some places in Baghdad like Sadr City, suffers from the control of the criminal gangs and make those people suffer,” Sheikhly said through a translator. “The Iraqi government exerted a lot of effort to provide the needs for the people of Sadr City.”...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – Coalition forces killed a wanted terrorist and detained 23 suspects in two days of operations targeting terrorist cells around Iraq. Coalition forces targeted the wanted terrorist during an operation west of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The man refused to comply with an interpreter's instructions and, perceiving hostile intent, coalition forces engaged and killed him. The terrorist was a leader in the al-Qaida in Iraq network in Salahuddin province, coalition officials said. Another wanted man, believed to be part of the same network, was detained with an additional suspect in a separate operation...

Soldiers from the 3/31/8 IA Div. and Co. B, 2-502nd Inf. Regt., wait to begin a raid of several houses in Jabella, Iraq, May 2. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amanda McBride. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — In an effort to clear out criminals in the area, Iraqi Army Soldiers raided several houses in the city of Jabella, Iraq, May 2. With support from Coalition forces, the raid resulted in the detainment of 29 suspected insurgents.Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 31st Brigade, 8th IA Division, led the early morning raid, with help from Soldiers with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd...

<p>Click to view slideshow of operations in the Rusafa district, Baghdad. Photos by Bill Ardolino.</p> <p>The US soldiers and Iraqi police living at Joint Security Station Al Qanat at the Northeastern edge of Baghdad’s Rusafa district have “a front row seat” to the fight taking place in Sadr City. As US and Iraqi Army forces clash with the Mahdi Army, hissing RPGs and small arms fire periodically crackle during the day and are punctuated by occasional orange explosions and red tracers streaking out of the Sadr City skyline at night. Two to four Apache attack helicopters constantly prowl the airspace over the battlefield, randomly popping flares as they search for targets. The characteristic whoosh and boom of a hellfire missile sounds when they find one. But although JSS al Qanat is only 200 meters from the Route Pluto, the main thoroughfare that marks the border to Sadr City, the fighting has not significantly spilled over into the northern part of the Rusafa District.</p>

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – An M1A2 Abrams tank crew fired a 120 mm round at two attackers on a rooftop, killing both, during fighting in northeastern Baghdad today, military officials reported. A nearby U.S. patrol had struck a roadside bomb, and two men on a nearby rooftop then engaged the Americans with small-arms fire. No U.S. soldiers were injured in the attack. “When attacked or when we observe an imminent attack, we will respond with appropriate force,” said Army Col. Allen Batschelet, Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division chief of staff. In yesterday’s operations in Iraq: -- U.S....

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured dozens of enemy fighters and terrorists during operatrions conducted throughout Iraq over the past three days. Coalition forces captured two suspected Iranian-trained insurgents early this morning in the Rashid district in Baghdad. Intelligence information led coalition forces to the location of an individual suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons. He is also suspected of providing information to other insurgent leaders that led to rocket attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces. The terrorist surrendered without incident. Coalition forces conducted a follow-on mission to capture another suspect. There, they detained an...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Coalition forces found a weapons cache of explosively-formed penetrators in the southern Baghdad community of Warij May 2. Soldiers from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division were on patrol in Warij and found four EFPs hidden in an office closet shelf of a factory. A brand new 107 mm rocket was also discovered. The EFPs were covered with foam and had wires leading from the back. Forty pounds of unknown bulk explosives, a rocket sled and blasting caps were also found. A guard at the factory was detained after...

A member of the Iraqi national police creates an inventory of illegal weapons confiscated by Iraqi national police in the Sadr City District of Baghdad, Iraq, as he turns them over to members of the 42nd brigade, 11th Iraqi army division, at Combat Patrol Base Comanche on April 19. (US Air Force photo/Technical Sergean Adrian Cadiz) US and Iraqi forces continue to target the Mahdi Army as an Iraqi delegation visited Iran to confront the country over its support of Shia militias battling the government. The US military conducted a guided rocket attack on a Special Groups headquarters adjacent...

2nd Lieutenant Mike Hebert leads White Platoon of the Blackfoot Troop, 3-89 Cavalry on a presence patrol of a difficult neighborhood in southern Rusafa District, Baghdad. Photo by Bill Ardolino. BAGHDAD, IRAQ: The nighttime walk through a difficult neighborhood in Southern Rusafa was uneventful; a careful “presence patrol” designed to show local citizens American forces and gauge public opinion. The jumbled maze of brightly-lit ramshackle shops and pitch-black back alleys was one of the less secure parts of the district. Southern Rusafa is “a neighborhood with the most potential to become violent because of the JAM (Mahdi Army) special...

The newspapers are predictably filled with articles about how 52 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq last month – the highest toll since September. Iraqi civilian casualties are also said to be at the highest level since August. These losses are being used to cast aspersions on claims of progress in Iraq. Even one death is too many and 52 deaths is tragedy multiplied 52-fold. But let's keep some perspective. As the icasualties.org website makes clear, for better or worse, April was still one of the lighter-casualty months during the long war in Iraq. More important, casualties cannot be looked at...

The recent offensive operations taken by the Iraqi government against the Mahdi Army (Jaish al-Mahdi - JAM) of Muqtada al-Sadr have received much analysis and commentary since the onset. Each of the ensuing analysis and commentary offerings have agreed that the Maliki government’s military actions and the Mahdi Army response are revelatory in nature. But that is where the agreement seems to end, as there appears a divergence regarding precisely what has been revealed: Who has operated and enjoys the position of strength, Maliki and the Iraqi government and military forces, or the Mahdi Army forces of Muqtada al-Sadr, which...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed at least three enemy fighters, captured 55 suspects, and seized weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. In Iraq today: -- Coalition troops detained four suspected terrorists during raids in Mosul targeting members of the local al-Qaida in Iraq network responsible for attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces. -- Using information gleaned in previous operations, coalition forces detained four suspected terrorists in a separate raid in Mosul. -- Iraqi and coalition forces captured two wanted men and two additional suspects 15 miles northwest of Baghdad. One...

BALAD — Iraqi Special Operations Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces captured a Special Groups commander in Baghdad April 30. ISOF conducted the operation to detain the Special Groups commander who has been leading attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces in the area. The man is believed to be a weapons smuggler, and is reported to conduct improvised explosive device and indirect fire attacks. Intelligence reports link him to an IED attack in October 2007 that killed four U.S. soldiers, and a mortar attack in October 2007 that killed one U.S. Soldier. During the operation, ISOF received small-arms fire from...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2008 – Most Iraqi people now reject the violence that has plagued their neighborhoods and the extremists who have been inciting the violence, a senior official in the region said today. “We increasingly see a commitment to economic development and reconstruction. That is the path that leads to prosperity and the broadest opportunity for all Iraqis to share in it,” said Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, in a news conference. In places where Iraqi citizens have rejected the violence, people are returning to their homes and capitalizing on improving local...

MEXICO CITY, April 30, 2008 – As Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stands up to insurgents threatening Iraq, it’s serving to unify his once-splintered government, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters here last night. Gates pointed to Maliki’s Iraqi-led crackdown against Shiite militias, primarily Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia, known as the Mahdi Army, or Jaysh al-Mahdi. While conceding that operations in and around the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City have seen more U.S. and Iraqi casualties, Gates said part of it is because coalition and Iraqi forces are operating in new areas. Another part is because of mixed...

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2008 – Coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained 12 suspects today during operations in the northern half of Iraq. -- Coalition forces targeted a suspect wanted for aiding foreign terrorists at a suspected terrorist safe-house about 60 miles north of Baghdad. Forces killed three armed terrorists there, and five others were detained. -- Coalition forces nabbed four suspects in Mosul. -- In Beiji, about 100 miles south of Mosul, forces captured the leader of a car-bomb cell along with two others. In operations around Iraq yesterday: -- In Baghdad, an aerial weapons team and an M1A2...

Citizens of the Hyyaniyah district of Basra, Iraq, greet Iraqi Army soldiers with smiles as they push through clearing the district of criminals and weapons caches April 19. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Eric J. Glassey. BASRA — As part of ongoing operations to secure the Hyyaniyah district in Basra, Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces searched the area of criminals and weapons caches last week. The ISF involved were Soldiers from 1st Division, 14th Division; the 26th Brigade attached to the 1st Division; a Battalion with the National Police from Baghdad; and elements from an Emergency Police Battalion.“It went rather well...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 42 members of Iranian-backed “special groups,” detained eight terrorism suspects, and seized weapons in Iraq over the past four days, military officials said. During operations in northeastern Baghdad yesterday: -- Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers manning a checkpoint retaliated against a large group that attacked them around 6:35 p.m. with small-arms fire. The U.S. component of the combined force used 120 mm fire from M1A12 Abrams tanks and small-arms fire, killing 22 attackers and forcing the rest to flee. No U.S. or Iraqi soldiers were harmed or killed. --...

Click the image to view the slideshow several caches of Iranian-made weapons seized in February and March. Images courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq. Clashes between the Mahdi Army and US and Iraqi forces continue in northern and eastern Baghdad over the weekend despite a call by Muqtada al Sadr for his fighters to cease attacks. US air weapons team killed seven Mahdi Army fighters in Sadr City on Saturday and early Sunday morning while the Mahdi Army attacked a police patrol in the Sha'ab neighborhood and launched mortars at the International Zone. Meanwhile, an Iraqi general has said Iran...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — Knocking on doors; greeting the family; talking about politics, the neighbors or just the weather over a hot cup of overly sweet chai – a pleasant side of operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers who have operated in the southeastern Rashid District for the past eight months. For Soldiers of “Fox,” Company F, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, interpersonal relations, consensus information and the pictures they create are the biggest contributors to the safety and security of the citizens living in the...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 22 suspected terrorists, captured 37 others, and seized weapons caches in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. During operations today: -- An air weapons team fired a Hellfire missile at four criminals as they attempted to emplace an improvised explosive device in northeastern Baghdad around 1 a.m. The missile killed all four and destroyed the IED. -- A separate AWT witnessed two criminals setting up a firing position in northeastern Baghdad at about 1:30 a.m. The AWT engaged with one Hellfire missile and killed one criminal; the...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi National Police from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, working in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad, seized a weapons cache and detained a suspected criminal during a security patrol April 20. Conducting simultaneous raids at two different sites, 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP Div. officers captured two heavy machine guns with 1,800 rounds, a sniper rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and detained a suspected criminal operating in the Risalah neighborhood of West Rashid. Iraqi Security Forces such as the 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP conduct daily patrols and security operations for...

Freedom Journal Iraq - News video Very professional news report by the Multi-National Force Iraq of frontline scenes of the mission of our awesome troops and the Iraqi police and Army forces, posted on April 17, 2008.

An Iraqi soldier with the 1st Iraqi Army examines one of more than 160 mortars found during Operation Charge of the Knights in Basra April 19. Some of the markings on the weapons indicate a manufacturing date in 2007. U.S. Army photo. BASRA — The Iraqi Army discovered a large weapons and munitions cache in a house located in the Al Hyyaniyah area of Basra April 19. Soldiers from the 1st Iraqi Army discovered the cache during the search phase of Operation Charge of the Knights. The cache consisted of a large number of weaponry with Iranian markings. The cache...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured a suspected Iranian-trained Special Groups commander and three other suspected criminals Sunday during operations in the Kadamiyah district of Baghdad.The targeted individual allegedly conducted attacks against Iraqi security and Coalition forces and was involved in extra-judicial killings in Baghdad. Reports also indicate the wanted individual was an associate of several senior-level criminal element leaders involved in attacks on Coalition forces. Intelligence led Coalition forces to the targeted individual’s location. En route, Coalition forces came under attack by small arms fire from unknown assailants. After arriving at the targeted individual’s location, Coalition forces came under...

BALAD, Iraq – A combined force of more than 300 Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, advised by U.S. Special Operations Forces, arrested 40 criminal militia members after coming under attack in Suq Ash Shuyukh, southeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq, April 19. Forty criminal militia members were killed during the armed confrontation with ISF, including the group’s top two leaders. Twelve ISF members were reported wounded. Using assault rifles and automatic weapons, the criminal militia attacked Iraqi Security Forces on the morning of April 19. Regional police and Army forces on alert in the area responded...

Muqtada al Sadr. Click to view. The battle between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US forces intensified over the weekend. As the Iraqi Army took control of a Mahdi Army stronghold in Basrah, Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army, threatened to end the self-imposed cease-fire. Iraqi security forces have also stepped up efforts against the Mahdi Army in the center-south region of Iraq, and captured more than 40 of the Iranian-backed Special Groups, a Mahdi Army splinter group. Sadr threatened to end the cease-fire after Iraqi troops took over the Mahdi Army-dominated neighborhood of Hayaniyah...

BAGHDAD – A Multi-National Division – Baghdad aerial weapons teams killed seven criminals and Soldiers seized weapons in separate incidents in eastern Baghdad April 19. The AWT engaged the criminals with a Hellfire missile and killed both criminals transporting weapons at approximately 6:30 p.m. in the Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad. The AWT also destroyed two machine guns with the attack. At approximately 8:27 p.m., Coalition forces were attacked by criminals with small-arms fire. They returned fire killing one. At approximately 8:39 p.m., in another section of the Sadr City district, Coalition forces engaged attacking criminals, killing one. At...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured a suspected Iranian-trained Special Groups commander and three other suspected criminals Sunday during operations in the Kadamiyah district of Baghdad. The targeted individual allegedly conducted attacks against Iraqi security and Coalition forces and was involved in extra-judicial killings in Baghdad. Reports also indicate the wanted individual was an associate of several senior-level criminal element leaders involved in attacks on Coalition forces. Intelligence led Coalition forces to the targeted individual’s location. En route, Coalition forces came under attack by small arms fire from unknown assailants. After arriving at the targeted individual’s location, Coalition forces came...