Coalition, Iraqi forces respond to terror attacks

ARNEWS ^ | Jan 5, 2005 | Staff Sgt. David Green

[SandRat]

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Jan. 5, 2006) – Coalition and Iraqi forces responded Jan. 4 after a suicide bomber laden with explosives attacked a funeral procession about 60 miles north of Baghdad and other militants attacked a convoy of 60 fuel tankers.

After the attack on the funeral, located in the town of Muqdadiya, Coalition forces joined the Iraqi Security Forces to secure the site of the bombing. The suicide bomber killed at least 30 and wounded more than 40 people, according to reports.

After the ambush on a convoy of fuel tankers Jan. 4, a militant group known as the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility on an Internet site for the attack.

The convoy was an attempt to relieve fuel shortages in Baghdad after security threats forced Oil Ministry officials to close the country’s main refinery in Bayji. Coalition forces have been aggressively pursuing insurgents in the area, officials said. They recently used precision-guided munitions to strike a home where insurgents were believed to be hiding. Coalition forces had earlier observed the men digging along a road consistent with tactics used to emplace improvised explosive devices, Multi-National Force–Iraq officials said.

“These attacks point to just how far the terrorists are willing to go to disrupt the formation of this government and democratic nation,” said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for Multi-National Force–Iraq.

“There are people that are totally opposed to a democratic Iraq and they continue to kill innocent civilians or use them as cover, but Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces are constantly working hand-in-hand to counter their efforts,” he added.

Elsewhere in Iraq Jan. 4, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces seized three vehicle-carried improvised explosive devices and captured several suspected terrorist. Security forces found more than 75 weapons caches containing several tons of explosives throughout the country in recent days.

“Every cache we find, every IED we dispose of, every terrorist we take off the streets, makes it safer for the Iraqi people,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that it is encouraging that several of the caches and terrorists were located as a result of tips from local citizens.

Iraqi Security Forces continued to take the lead in a number of the operations to secure parts of the country and establish a permanent presence in the community.

In western Iraq, elements of the Iraqi Army’s 3rd Brigade, 1st Division established a combat outpost and tactical strong points to provide security for the citizens of the city of Jazerra during the recently completed Operation Spiderweb.

Speaking to reporters last week, Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, a spokesman for MNF-I, said the terrorists were still there and there was an expectation that attacks would increase as security efforts put in place for the December elections were lifted.

“So increasingly powerful Iraqi security forces, with support from coalition forces, will continue focused operations to eliminate the terrorists and enable an environment in which freedom and democracy can prosper,” Alston added.

(Editor’s note: Staff Sgt. David Green serves with Multi-National Force-Iraq Public Affairs.)

[SandRat]

Taking on the Terrs!

[LibWhacker]

Two words: Summary executions.

Hang their bodies from nearby telephone poles to be eaten by birds and to rot. Anyone tampering with them is taken out by snipers, who themselves are protected by a platoon of badass Marines. Sick of this crap.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT