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http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051024.txt
NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
October 6, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-24
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IRAQI, COALITION FORCES' SEPTEMBER WEAPONS HAUL IN BAGHDAD BIGGEST SINCE MAY
BAGHDAD, Iraq — During combat operations to crack down on terrorist cells and their support networks in and around Baghdad, Iraqi and Coalition Forces seized 31 weapons caches in September, making it the largest monthly haul since 54 caches were seized in May.
On one occasion, Iraqi Police and Task Force Baghdad Soldiers patrolling together in the Mansour district of central Baghdad came under machine gun fire from terrorists hiding in a building Sept. 21.
Iraqi Soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, also working in the area, went to assist the combined patrol while U.S. attack helicopters flew in to provide air support. When the firing stopped, the Iraqi Soldiers stormed inside the building and found a weapons cache containing rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms ammunition.
The Soldiers found 35 mortar rounds and rockets, one mortar tube, 27 RPGs, three roadside bombs, and five cell phones. Five terrorists were killed by Iraqi Forces during the firefight.
Soldiers often discovered the caches after local residents, weary of terrorist violence in their neighborhoods, told them where weapons were hidden. An Iraqi citizen’s tip helped Iraqi Army Soldiers seize two terror suspects and an Anti-Iraqi Forces weapons cache in an operation Sept. 24.
Iraqi Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division planned and conducted the entire mission. The weapons cache the Iraqi Soldiers discovered consisted of 84 mortar rounds and one mortar tube, five rockets, six anti-rockets, three RPG launchers with 18 RPGs, and a bag of small-arms ammunition.
A few days earlier on Sept. 17, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team patrolling in the Radwiniyah area of west Baghdad found one of the larger caches of the month after local citizens told them about a field of buried weapons. The unit uncovered the cache, then expanded the search and found two more stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in the same area.
The two caches contained 63 RPG rounds, 23 RPG motors, 904 RPG fuses and primers, 33 rockets, 35 mortar rounds, two mortar firing tubes, 80 mortar fuses and five crates of TNT. One terror suspect was captured at the site and taken into custody for questioning.
Just over a week later, on Sept. 25, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers, acting on another tip from an Iraqi citizen, seized an even larger weapons cache hidden in west Baghdad.
Soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, discovered 85 mortar rounds, 14 rockets, two artillery rounds and three mortar tubes at the cache site. The cache also contained eight RPG launchers with 144 RPGs and 30 RPG chargers, three anti-tank weapons, 20 hand grenades, bomb-making materials, two machine guns, two assault rifles and 75 pounds of ammunition.
On another occasion, Coalition Forces patrolling on foot in the Radwiniyah district Sept. 28 were approached by an Iraqi citizen who told the unit about another large weapons cache. When the Soldiers investigated, they found 175 sticks of dynamite, 109 grenades, 149 rockets, mortar and artillery rounds, two rocket launchers, 46 anti-personnel mines and 20 pounds of TNT.
NOTE: The text above is compiled from information contained in several press releases already released throughout September 2005.
THIS STORY HAS ACCOMPANYING PHOTOGRAPHS. TO RECEIVE THE PHOTOS CONTACT THE TASK FORCE BAGHDAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT DAVID.ABRAMS@ID3.ARMY.MIL.
CUTLINES:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Munitions found in one of 31 weapons caches seized by Task Force Baghdad Soldiers in the month of September 2005. The 31 caches are the most discovered in a single month since 54 were uncovered in May 2005.
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers guard a stockpile of weapons in the Radwiniyah area Sept. 17. It was one of 31 weapons caches seized by Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers in the month of September.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS RELEASE CONTACT TASK FORCE BAGHDAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS, AT DAVID.ABRAMS@ID3.ARMY.MIL.
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US offers $10m reward for Bali bomb suspect
07 October 2005
WASHINGTON: The United States offered a $10 million ($NZ14.3 million) reward yesterday for a key suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings, the second-highest bounty Washington is promising in its war on terrorism.
The reward for a tip that could help kill or capture Dulmatin, an Indonesian militant believed to be hiding in the Philippines, is exceeded only by the $25 million price tags on al Qaeda head Osama bin laden and the Iraq insurgency leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Dulmatin is suspected of involvement in the nightclub bombings three years ago that killed 202 people on the Indonesian vacation island, most of them foreign tourists.
His al Qaeda-linked group, Jemaah Islamiah, is also a focus of attention in the hunt for the masterminds behind restaurant bomb attacks on Sunday that killed 22 people on Bali.
Yesterday's reward offer indicated Dulmatin was as wanted a man by the United States as Taliban leader Mullah Omar who sheltered bin Laden from US attack in Afghanistan and who also has a $US10 million bounty on him.
The State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program has handed out about $US60 million for information about US enemies, including a total $US30 million payment for a tip that led to the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Dulmatin was an electronics specialist who has trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiah network.
The State Department also offered a $US1 million reward for Umar Patek for his suspected help in coordinating the operation on the ground for the 2002 bombings.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3436121a14955,00.html
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051006_2964.html
Iraqis, Coalition Beefing up Border Interdiction
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition officials are doing their best to halt shipments of bomb-making materials, expertise and individuals into Iraq, DoD officials said in a Pentagon news conference today.
The officials were asked about British Prime Minister Tony Blair's assertion that Iran and Hezbollah are providing materials used to attack coalition targets and destabilize Iraq.
Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, deputy operations chief on the Joint Staff, said Iraqi security forces had intercepted a shipment of devices from Iran into Iraq about a month ago.
"It is principally, as we would expect, an Iraqi issue to secure their own border with Iran. We have a responsibility to help them, both in terms of training and with technology, to improve their border forces," Ham said. "It remains very clearly an area of concern, particularly for Multinational Division Southeast, which is perhaps why the British are also very concerned about that."
Ham said challenges along the Iraq-Syria border are different than those along the Iraq-Iran border.
The border between Iraq and Syria is a long stretch. While "border forts" are being built, many holes remain for insurgents and weapons to pass through. Ham said an operation is ongoing in the vicinity of Qaim to help establish security along the border and to help deny terrorist facilitators safe haven.
Iraqi and coalition officials have seen evidence that foreign fighters are infiltrating into Iraq from Syria.
Ham also said the coalition has seen an evolving terrorist capability in building improvised explosive devices. "This enemy is very imaginative, very adaptive, and very lethal," he said. "And, as we refine our IED countermeasures, they are also adapting their measures. So we are seeing greater degrees of sophistication, different techniques, different technological approaches. And that's a great challenge for us."
Related Site:
Multinational Force Iraq