Coalition forces kill 12 terrorists April 26, 2006 Release A060426a
BAGHDAD , Iraq – Coalition forces killed 12 terrorists during a raid April 25 in Yusifiyah at a safe house associated with foreign terrorists. Multiple intelligence sources led the troops to the specific structure located approximately 8 kilometers N/NE of the location where the U.S. Apache helicopter crashed April 1.
Upon arrival the troops took direct fire and immediately engaged the threat with small arms fire as well as rotary wing aircraft machine gun fire. The troops initially killed five terrorists outside of the safe house, and then called for an air strike to neutralize the persistent direct fire coming from the safe house.
After the precision air strike, the ground troops conducted a tactical search of the destroyed safe house and located the bodies of seven more terrorists and a woman. Every male who was found in the rubble was wearing an AK-47 vest with two loaded magazines and two grenades. The troops also discovered suicide notes on one of the terrorists, body bombs, weapons to include a shoulder-fired rocket and ammunition.
The first terrorist who ran out of the safe house upon the troops' arrival was attempting to launch the shoulder-fired rocket and was immediately engaged and killed.
Two wanted terrorists, one potentially transnational, were believed to be operating from this safe house. However, it is unknown at this time if the two were killed in the raid. Coalition forces are currently determining the identity of those killed.
The troops destroyed the weapons, suicide vests/body bombs and ammunition on-site.
Scores Are Killed In Heavy Fighting South of Baghdad May 16, 2006
BAGHDAD, May 15 -- U.S.-led forces killed more than 40 Sunni Arab fighters in a series of ferocious battles south of Baghdad, military officials said Monday. Officials also announced the deaths of four U.S. service members, including two soldiers killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter in the area of the insurgent clashes.
The combat on Sunday and Monday appeared to be larger in scale than previous encounters in the area. The first attack took place near the town of Yusufiyah when U.S.-led troops and aircraft moved in on a suspected insurgent safe house, the military said. The aircraft attacked both the house and a vehicle parked outside, resulting in a chain reaction of explosions. Two suspected insurgents were killed and four were detained, the military said.
As helicopters departed, carrying two women who were injured in the blasts, the insurgents opened fire on them from another location, the military said. The ground troops called for more air support, and jets and helicopters pounded the enemy positions, killing approximately 20 more suspected insurgents.
During the battle, three other fighters in a truck tried to break through a security perimeter, but they were shot by ground troops, the military said. One of the three detonated a vest containing explosives, killing himself but no one else.
The downing of the helicopter took place near Yusufiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town about 10 miles south of the capital, the military said in a brief statement. A U.S. military spokesman reached by telephone said he could not elaborate on the circumstances of the incident for reasons of operational security.
SpecOps unit nearly nabs Zarqawi April 28, 2006
By Sean D. Naylor Times staff writer
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, is shown here in a video originally posted on Tuesday. He accused the West and the United States of waging a “crusader” war against Islam but said Muslim holy warriors were standing firm. The image was provided via the IntelCenter, a private contractor working for intelligence agencies. — AP Photo / via IntelCenter
Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others and apparently came within a couple of city blocks of nabbing Zarqawi himself.
Then, the day Zarqawi’s video debuted, special ops forces killed 12 more of his troops in a second raid in the same town.
The raids in Yusufiyah, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, were the latest battles in a small, vicious war being waged largely in the shadows of the wider counterinsurgency effort.
It is a war fought by a secretive organization called Task Force 145, made up of some of the most elite U.S. troops, including Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. They have one goal: hunting down Zarqawi, Iraq’s most wanted man, and destroying his al-Qaida in Iraq organization.
Zarqawi’s escape in Yusufiyah was not the first time special ops troops have nearly had him. In early 2005, they came so close they could see the Jordanian’s panicked face as he fled.
The first of the two Yusufiyah raids began at 2:15 a.m. April 16 when SEAL Team 6 operators and Army Rangers approached a terrorist safe house, a U.S. special operations source said.
A U.S. Central Command news release said “coalition forces” — the usual shorthand for Task Force 145 elements — were “searching for a wanted al-Qaida associate.”
Iraqi, MiTT Soldiers cooperate on, off battlefield May 06, 2006
Success in restoring security and stability in Iraq will be measured by how well Iraqis maintain security, sustain themselves and enforce the rule of law after Coalition Forces depart.
It is the job of the Military Transition Team, or MiTT, to ensure that the Iraqi army is ready to take on that responsibility.
MiTT 4, stationed in Yusufiyah, has been preparing Iraqi soldiers to take over an incredibly active area south of Baghdad that had traditionally been a terrorist sanctuary before the Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces began offensive operations there in February.
"The job of the MiTT is to coach, mentor, train and report the activities of the Iraqi army, specifically 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division," said 1st Lt. Ryan Crosby, executive officer, MiTT 4.
Although the Iraqi army shows continuing progress, there were some difficulties facing MiTT 4 in getting the Soldiers prepared to take over the battlefield.More
This is a real hotbed of evil isn't it?
Thanks for the research and post TK..
An effective headline grabber by Al-Queda.