U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld addresses a crowd of sailors and civilian government employees during a town hall meeting at Fallon Naval Air Station, Nev., Aug. 28, 2006. Rumsfeld answered questions that ranged from health care to the global war on terrorism. (Dept. of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen)
Tuesday, 29 August 2006
By Pfc. Paul David Ondik - 4th BCT, 101st Airborne Division
FOB LOYALTY — Two Iraqi kidnap victims were freed Wednesday by U.S. Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in the Adhamiyah district of eastern Baghdad. U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are in the area as part of the expansion of Operation Forward Together.
Describing the scene, Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, said they observed an Iraqi man running from a house nearby their position. When they caught up to him, he said he and a friend were being held there against their will.
The victim said he escaped when his kidnappers, hearing the sound of Coalition Humvees nearby, fled to the roof of the building in which he was being held.
“The guy was running away, and we actually had to catch up to him,” said Spc. Kenneth Correa. “He said that his friend was still in the house.”
Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers surrounded the home. Inside they found the second victim, whose hands and feet were bound.
The kidnappers managed to flee the scene before the troops were able to cordon off the area.
The victims, a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim, told the Soldiers they had been riding motorcycles and had just crossed the A’ Iamma bridge going into Adhamiyah when they were surrounded by four armed men, also on motorcycles. The assailants forced them to an area south of the Abu Hanifa Mosque, at which point the victims were transfered into the back of a vehicle and taken to the home where U.S. forces eventually found them.
The escape and rescue mark just the most recent case of liberation involving troops from the unit. Ten kidnap victims have been freed in just the past two weeks.
“Over the last couple of months, (kidnapping) has been one of the focuses,” said Lt. Col. Brian Winski, commander, 1st Sqdn., 61st Cav. Regt.
Although many kidnappings in the area are motivated by sectarian tensions, it is unlikely this particular incident falls into that category, Winski said.
An investigation is underway, with U.S. Soldiers questioning nearby residents.
The victims were released to Iraqi Police near their home in Baghdad’s Khadamiyah neighborhood.
Rummy lit into the lefties on this one today.