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It was a mission that eventually rooted out not only hidden weapons in quantities that resembled a gun show, but the terrorists themselves. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 25, 2005 — When local residents provide information on where terrorists are hiding their weapons, Iraqi and American forces are quick to respond. An anonymous tip prompted Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and U.S. forces from D Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry to conduct searches in west Baghdad Nov. 20-21. It was a mission that eventually rooted out not only hidden weapons but the terrorists themselves. "It was...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 18, 2005 – After receiving a tip from a local resident, soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, uncovered what turned out to be a large weapons cache west of Baghdad. The unit initially found a small cache consisting of two rocket-propelled grenades and an AK-47 assault rifle Nov. 14. But after uncovering this weapons cache, the soldiers of 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, expanded the search of the area, resulting in one of the largest of 17 weapons cache discoveries the team has made to date. After receiving the informant's tip, the soldiers started their...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2005 – A Task Force Band of Brothers patrol near Forward Operating Base Anaconda in Iraq found two weapons caches containing timers, watches and other items commonly used in constructing roadside bombs Nov. 5, officials said today. The seizure also yielded nearly 30 large-caliber artillery shells, more than a dozen rockets, five rocket-propelled grenade launchers, a mortar tube, a machine gun and small-arms ammunition, officials noted. An explosive ordnance disposal team collected the weapons and conducted a controlled detonation of the shells and rockets. In the air war over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 56 close-air-support and armed-reconnaissance...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2005 – Afghan National Army soldiers and U.S. paratroopers with 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), discovered a large cache of weapons, ammunition, mines and documents Nov. 1 in southern Ghazni, in east-central Afghanistan, U.S. military officials reported today. The cache consisted of a heavy machine gun, light machine guns, assault rifles, recoilless rifles, mortar systems with rounds, thousands of rounds of small-arms and light-machine-gun ammunition, 135 rocket-propelled grenades, two crates of fragmentation grenades, and improvised explosive device-making materials, officials said. The items were taken to a nearby forward operating base and destroyed. "This find is significant...

A U.S. soldier assigned to Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, prepares a pile of munitions for demolition in rural east Baghdad, Iraq. A scrap-metal junkyard was cleared of unexploded ordnance, which included 1,135 mortar rounds, 632 artillery rounds, 195 rockets, 22 mines and six bombs. U.S. Army photo | More photos Troops Clear Junkyard of Bomb-making Ammo The ordnance-clearing operation was completed with a focus on safety and there were no injuries during the controlled detonations. By U.S. Amry 2nd Brigade Combat Team BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 1, 2005 — More than 2,400 rounds of...

MOSUL, Iraq – Multi-National Forces from 172nd Infantry Brigade (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) uncovered 10 weapons caches and detained 16 suspected terrorists during two operations in northern Iraq Oct. 17-18. Soldiers from 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment detained 16 suspected terrorists and seized a weapons cache during a raid near Rawah along the Euphrates River Oct. 17. The cache included mortar aiming stakes, mortar launching equipment, mortar propellant, and explosive paraphernalia. Soldiers from the 4-14th Cavalry also seized nine weapons caches during search operations near Rawah Oct. 17-18. The caches included over 600 various artillery rounds, over 700 various mortar...

U.S. Army Sgt. Robert A. Guttersohn, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, throws rocks to the side as he digs through a pile of stones in search of hidden caches during a raid in Tall Afar, Iraq, Oct. 18, 2005. Guttersohn is a native of Canton, Mich. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. James Wilt More Photos Tall Afar Search Unearths Weapons Cache A local resident insists troops missed some weapons during an initial search; a subsequent search yields weapons buried beneath rocks and soil. By U.S. Army Pfc. James Wilt 82nd...

American and Iraqi soldiers near Mosul on Tuesday seized one of the largest weapons caches uncovered in that area, officials said Thursday. More weapons from the cache, buried in a 20-foot container in the ground in Rawah, were still being found after the main cache was destroyed. Among the weapons found were 220 rocket-propelled grenades, 40,000 7.62 mm rounds, 100 2.75-inch rockets, 10 anti-tank mines, 1,000 .50-caliber rounds, 50 mortar rounds, 3,000 feet of detonation cord, a dozen 40-pound containers of black powder and two dozen 40-pound containers of red powder. The cache was found by Iraqi forces from the...

A HUGE cache of hi-tech bomb-making kit has been seized from terrorist smugglers crossing from Iran into Iraq. The find included detonators, military-style charges and a whopping 100kg of plastic explosives — enough to flatten a tower block. Exactly the same technology was used in five devastating roadside bombs that killed eight British soldiers recently. Iraqi forces seized the cargo in a sparsely-populated border area in desolate Maysan province, which is largely scrub and marshland. This is the first hard proof of Iran’s highly controversial sponsorship of terrorism against Our Boys in southern Iraq. Military sources said the leadership in...

SOLDIERS DISCOVER WEAPONS CACHE CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – For the third time in as many weeks, Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Marine Division discovered a significant weapons cache in Ramadi, Al Anbar’s provincial capital. The unit was conducting a cordon and search operation, which began early morning on Oct. 9, in order to uncover suspected weapons caches at several garages and vacant buildings. Six suspected terrorists were detained. The find included Soviet-made rockets and surface to air missiles, more than one hundred 120 mm mortar rounds, dozens of 81 mm and 60 mm mortar rounds,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2005 – Iraqi security forces and multinational forces from Task Force Freedom detained 44 suspected terrorists and seized a number of weapons during operations in northern Iraq Sept. 26-30, military officials reported. Iraqi police seized a weapons cache during a cordon-and-search operation in eastern Mosul on Sept. 28. The cache included artillery rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, rockets, and blasting caps. The weapons were confiscated for future destruction. During five operations in Tal Afar between Sept. 26 and 29, soldiers from the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, detained 17 individuals suspected of terrorist activity. Suspects are in custody....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition forces detained 10 suspects and seized weapons and ammunition in operations across Iraq on Sept. 28, military officials reported. Iraqi soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, were conducting targeted raids in conjunction with coalition troops in Ramadi when they detained four men. The troops believed the men might have been involved with a previously discovered cache in central Ramadi. Elsewhere, Iraqi troops from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, and coalition troops conducting combined entry-control-point operations detained a man with suspected false identification documents...

Release A050919d TIKRIT, Iraq— An Iraqi citizen led Coalition Forces to four cache weapons sites southwest of Kirkuk around 6:15 p.m. Sept. 18. The man stopped a patrol and reported buried munitions in the area, and took the Coalition Forces to the area. The cache sites contained 4,000 37 mm air defense rounds. Explosives experts will detonate the munitions in place. -30- For more information, please contact the 42ND Infantry Division Public Affairs Office 42 ID PAO at fortysecond.id.pao@us.army.MIL.

TAJI, Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers found bomb-making materials and mortar aiming stakes in a house they searched northwest of Baghdad on Sept. 8. The Soldiers from the Rhode Island National Guard’s D Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, detained three male suspects at the house and confiscated terrorist propaganda, two expended rocket casings, two timers and the aiming stakes. "We did a three-patrol raid on a suspected Anti-Iraqi Forces meeting location and it was a complete success," said Capt. William H. Tuttle IV, D Company commander from Warwick, R.I. "Speed and surprise were our best attributes." Tuttle said...

BAGHDAD – Tips from Iraqi citizens led to the discovery by U.S. Soldiers of a weapons cache Aug. 23. Soldiers of D Company, 172nd Infantry Regiment, Task Force 1-118th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade heard small-arms fire near their position while conducting security operations north of Baghdad. The Soldiers moved toward the sound of the gunfire but found a deserted fighting position that contained two mortar rounds, 12 mortar fuses, and a 155-millimeter artillery shell. While the Soldiers searched the area, Iraqi civilians approached and said they knew where to find more weapons. The men of D Co. found two 203-millimeter...

Iraqi army soldiers and coalition forces planned a targeted raid in search of insurgents in Balad, Iraq, Aug. 27, according to a multinational forces report. Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and elements of Task Force 5-7 concluded Operation War Paint Dakota, which led to the capture of five suspected insurgents. All five detainees were transported to a nearby forward operating base for questioning. No injuries or damages were reported. Elsewhere, Iraqi army soldiers assigned to the K-1 airfield in Kirkuk discovered a cache three kilometers northwest of Forward Operating Base Warrior Aug. 27. The soldiers...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2005 – Two 1st Corps Support Command soldiers were killed when their vehicle rolled over during a combat logistics patrol near Tal Afar, Iraq, about 11 p.m. Aug. 21, military officials reported. The names of the soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. In other developments, Iraqi police officers on patrol discovered 32 mortar rounds and 20 rockets in two separate incidents in Baghdad Aug. 21, according to a Multinational Force report. The officers noticed a fresh mound of dirt between two houses in the Zohour district. Upon further investigation, they found 32 mortar...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-national ground forces, acting on an Iraqi tip, discovered and destroyed a large cache of artillery shells in the early hours of Aug. 16. The shells were apparently intended for use as improvised explosive devices. An explosive ordinance disposal technician advised that the 25 to 30 individual 152mm rounds located inside a building within Al Anbar province be destroyed. Security forces confirmed there were no friendly or enemy personnel in the building. Security forces destroyed the building and its contents with an air strike after ensuring all non-combatants were clear of the area. Secondary explosions were observed....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq - Soldiers of the 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) recently discovered a weapons cache near Forward Operating Base Dogwood. Items seized and subsequently destroyed include 36 individual SA-7 surface-to-air missiles and 4,480 rounds of 14.5mm heavy machine gun ammunition. The 155th BCT is a U.S. Army unit assigned to II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. -30- For more information, contact Maj. Erby Montgomery, public affairs officer, 155th Brigade Combat Team, at erby.montgomery@us.army.mil.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2005 – Iraqi military units uncovered a weapons cache and roadside bombs, and detained several suspects Aug. 9 and 10, according to multinational force reports. Iraqi soldiers were led to a weapons cache in Fallujah while on a dismounted security patrol Aug. 10. Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, located followed instructions to the cache from a local Iraqi. The cache consisted of four rocket-propelled grenade launchers, three machine guns, 22 RPG rounds, one rocket, two rifle grenades, RPG fin assemblies, one bag of ammunition, one can of .303 ball/tracer mix, one can...