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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47089

Coalition Forces Kill 13 Terrorists While Targeting Cell Leader

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2007 – Coalition forces killed 13 terrorists and detained 12 suspected terrorists east of Tarmiyah, Iraq, during an operation today targeting an al Qaeda cell leader who provides guidance to senior terrorist leaders in Iraq.

Despite coalition forces’ appeals for the terrorists to send out women and children to be taken to safety during the engagement, a boy was killed in a building with an armed terrorist who had engaged the ground forces.

“Terrorists continue to put innocent children in harm’s way when they make bystanders unwitting participants in their illegal activities,” said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “Their disregard for human life is contrary to the values of decent people everywhere.”

In other operations this week, Iraqi forces with U.S. Special Forces advisors detained eight suspected terrorists, including the leader of a sniper cell in western Mosul on Aug. 15. Iraqi security forces detained an alleged sniper cell leader who operates in western Mosul.

Officials said intelligence indicates the targeted individual actively recruits snipers to his cell from other groups and smuggles these snipers back and forth over the western Iraqi border to receive advanced sniper training in Syria. The forces also seized weapons, ammunition and assorted documents at the suspect’s residence.

Elsewhere, 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, forces detained the leader of an al Qaeda terrorist smuggling cell in the Hamrin Ridge region Aug. 15. Five other suspicious individuals also were detained. The forces also found weapons and ammunition at the targeted location.

In addition, Iraqi police and citizen volunteers defeated a coordinated attack by 40 to 60 al Qaeda terrorists in Baqubah on Aug. 15, killing an estimated 21 insurgents. As the terrorists entered the city, police and a group of concerned local citizens called “Baqubah Guardians” engaged the first wave of attackers, killing seven. At least two suicide bombers were killed before they reached their intended targets when their bomb vests detonated prematurely.

The police requested coalition attack-helicopter support after the first engagement. Helicopters then engaged another large group of heavily armed fighters staging near the first attack site, killing or wounding an estimated 14 terrorists. Six citizens were killed and up to 20 more were wounded during this attack.

“Baqubah should be proud of their security forces and their citizen guardians today,” said Army Col. Steve Townsend, commander of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. “All fought side by side and soundly defeated a complex attack from a determined enemy. This thing could have been much worse had those suicide bombers reached their targets.”

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13410&Itemid=132

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070817-18
August 17, 2007

Extremists destroy one school, rig a second
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, responding to a tip, were investigating two schools that were rigged to explode in a rural area in northern Baghdad when one exploded Aug. 16.

Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, were investigating a tip gathered by Iraqi Army forces operating in the Al Awad area of northern Baghdad and conducting a deliberate clearing operation of one school when a second school nearby exploded.

The unit then started receiving small arms fire from insurgents in a tree line across the road from the school. The Soldiers then called in attack aviation to clear the tree line and the small arms fire ceased.

The Soldiers then proceeded to clear the school damaged by the explosion. There they found containers filled with high explosives planted in several areas around the school, some of which had not exploded. The school was assessed to be a complete loss.

The second school which the soldiers originally were trying to clear was also rigged with multiple containers of high explosives, but none of them exploded. All of the unexploded containers were removed and destroyed by an explosive ordnance disposal team.

Al Qaeda extremists operating in the area are responsible for the emplacement of the explosives, according to Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak, deputy commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. He said extremists are attempting to disrupt Coalition efforts to facilitate the restoration of services and stop insurgent activities in the area.

This incident marks the fourth and fifth time insurgents have targeted schools in the northern Baghdad area this year.

“This is a testimony of how little the Al-Qeada cares about the citizens of Iraq. They provide nothing of value to the Iraqi people,” Andrysiak said. “Al Qaeda is fearful of the largest reconciliation effort in Baghdad spreading to this area, but they haven’t changed their tactics. They kill and destroy. We secure, rebuild and provide hope.”

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