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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.)
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060720_5701.html
Iraqi, Coalition Troops Launch Operation, Capture Terrorists
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 20, 2006 – Iraqi and coalition soldiers launched a new operation near Kirkuk, Iraq, this morning, and Iraqi army soldiers have captured more than a dozen terrorists near Baghdad over the past two days.
Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and U.S. soldiers of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, kicked off combined Operation Gaugamela (gaw'guh-MEE-luh). They simultaneously surrounded and entered the cities of Hawija and Riyadh, just west of Kirkuk, searching for suspected al Qaeda terrorists.
The operation, requested by local Sunni Arab leaders, follows a series of terror attacks in the area and comes amid reports of al Qaeda terror cells in the area, U.S. officials said. In the past five weeks, 31 Iraqi soldiers have been killed in terrorist attacks in the region, and six policemen were killed in Hawija earlier this week.
U.S. and Iraqi troops surrounded Hawija, blocking off escape routes, as another combined force air assaulted into the market in the heart of the city. The units are cordoning off the area and searching for terrorist forces. Meanwhile, Iraqi and coalition forces surrounded the village of Riyadh, approximately 10 miles away, and are searching that city.
Operation Gaugamela is named for the battle in which Alexander drove the Persian army from the city of Gaugamela, U.S. officials said.
In other news from Iraq, Iraqi army soldiers from 5th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, found a newly emplaced improvised explosive device early yesterday while conducting a patrol south of Baghdad.
While the troops were investigating the device, terrorists hiding in the area attacked them with small-arms fire. When the soldiers returned fire, the terrorists broke contact and fled the area. The Iraqi army soldiers pursued them and caught 12 suspects. The soldiers traced wires that led to the device and believe it was not yet armed. The explosive device was removed without causing injury or damage.
Elsewhere, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers prevented a terrorist attack and detained one terrorist at approximately 11 p.m. July 18 while he was emplacing an IED southwest of Baghdad.
Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, observed two terrorists digging on the side of the road; one terrorist fled to avoid capture, and the other was taken into custody. The soldiers discovered a cache containing four IEDs, a 50 mm mortar tube, 10 60 mm mortars, two AK-47s, a camera with a night-vision-sight system attached, and a drum of 7.62 mm ammunition. A search of the area also led to the seizure of a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher and three RPG rounds. The area was cordoned off, and an explosive ordnance disposal team was called to the scene.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)