Note: The following text is a quote:
---
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060719_5690.html
Extremists Use Holy Sites For Attacks, Hit Civilian Targets
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 19, 2006 – Extremists in Afghanistan attacked coalition forces from a religious site yesterday, and targeted several civilian areas this week, including a bridge, a school and a wedding party, military officials in Afghanistan reported.
Extremists began firing on coalition forces in the village of Nowzad in Helmand province yesterday. The sniper fire came from the direction of a religious shrine. There were no reported injuries to coalition forces or damage to equipment.
In a separate incident in Kandahar province, a supply convoy received small-arms fire from a nearby mosque. While there were no casualties in this incident, this act by the extremists is against the Geneva Convention, officials said.
"To use religious buildings as hiding places and to fire from them is a clear message that the extremists use religion only when it is in their best interests," said Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition spokesman. "The extremists place no value on human life and continue to threaten the safety of the Afghan people. The extremists today, for example, said they were 'holy warriors.' What kind of 'holy warrior' uses a shrine as a firing position? The extremists abuse the word 'mujahedin.' They are, in fact, 'mufsidun,' corrupt people who seek nothing but inflicting harm on the Afghan people."
In another incident, a homemade bomb was detonated under a bridge yesterday in Wadi Village, Khost province, but there was no damage to the bridge.
Elsewhere, extremists targeted a girls' school near Mehtar Lam in Laghman province on July 17, launching four or five rocket-propelled grenades. There were no reports of students or staff being injured in the attack.
"Afghans are working hard to build a better future for their children by providing an education and opportunities for success," Collins said. "By attacking another school, the extremists show that they only offer destruction and a return to repression for the people of Afghanistan."
On July 16, three extremists who were visiting the compound of Mullah Zeino Bodeen prematurely detonated a homemade bomb while they were working on the device. The explosion killed the mullah and injured the three extremists. The compound is seven kilometers north of Salerno in Khowst province.
An extremist tossed a grenade into a wedding party crowd in Sabari, Khost province, on July 16, killing one and injuring 16. Afghan National Police are searching for the attacker.
"Extremists place no value on human life and continue to threaten the safety of the Afghan people," Collins said.
(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)
Note: The following text is a quote:
---
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060719_5691.html
Iraqi, Coalition Forces Kill Two Terrorists, Detain 19
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 19, 2006 – In several incidents July 16 and 17 and yesterday, Iraqi soldiers, police, and coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained 19, military officials reported.
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, captured and detained a suspected terrorist at a checkpoint northwest of Baghdad at about 3 p.m. yesterday.
The suspect was traveling with a woman and with four children under the age of 2 in a vehicle carrying multiple mortar systems, three 130 mm rounds and two directional charges. The Iraqi army detained the suspected terrorist.
In a separate event, soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were attacked by small-arms fire while conducting area reconnaissance at about 3 p.m. in an outlying area of southwestern Baghdad. The soldiers returned fire on their attackers; after searching the area, they found the bodies of two dead terrorists and detained seven others.
Soldiers confiscated six AK-47s, two drums of 7.62 mm ammunition, a pistol with a magazine, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with a round attached and ready to fire.
Elsewhere, coalition forces successfully targeted and captured two al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists and five additional suspects during a July 17 raid near Muhammadi.
The security forces targeted the local terrorist leaders for their extensive ties to foreign fighter facilitators and improvised explosive device cell leaders. The detainee serving as the top local terrorist leader recently assumed his position within al Qaeda after security forces killed his predecessor, officials said.
The forces secured multiple buildings and detained the seven individuals without incident. The two primarily targeted individuals identified themselves on location. Additionally, the assault force found numerous IED-making materials, including a video used to demonstrate the placing of IEDs.
Intelligence indicated two buildings targeted were used as foreign fighter safe houses and as a staging area for insurgent attacks against Iraqi security forces, civilians and coalition troops. Coalition forces destroyed the houses to prevent their further use by terrorists in the area.
In another incident, Iraqi police and Multinational Division Baghdad's 1st Battalion, 66th Armor, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained four terrorist cell members July 16 after receiving a call from a concerned citizen, who informed them of an attack planned against the Rashadia police station.
The telephone tip warned that attackers had surrounded the police station. Soldiers responded to the area to provide assistance to Iraqi police.
After an exchange of gunfire, the terrorists attempted to escape, but Iraqi police and coalition soldiers pursued them. Four local citizens stopped the fleeing suspects, and the Iraqi police took them into custody.
According to information gleaned from the individuals taken into custody, their plan was to attack the police station because they wanted to kill two terrorist leaders they believed were being held there.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)