Free Republic

Iraqi military forces recently discovered an Iranian-make weapons cache hidden in the city of Tikrit, north-west of Baghdad. The weapons, which were all new and of Iranian origin, were found hidden in a large well in the west of Tikrit, according to an Iraqi army officer whose comments were reported by Iraqi media. The United States and Iraqi officials have accused Iran's radical Islamic government of sending agents and arms into Iraq to assist the insurgency.

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces identified an improvised explosive device attached to a bridge, recovered an IED, and discovered a munitions cache in several operations throughout Afghanistan today, just a day after combined forces detained 10 insurgents. The local police chief reported several artillery rounds wired beneath a bridge in the Dand district, of Kandahar province, to nearby coalition forces. A coalition explosive ordnance team identified the rounds as a remote-controlled IED and Afghan National Police officers cordoned off the area to protect the safety of citizens. "The emplacement of improvised explosive devices is a heinous...

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2006 – Two insurgents were killed and eight captured near Kirkuk, Iraq, April 1 after 101st Airborne Division soldiers spotted terrorists planting a homemade bomb near a road the soldiers frequently travel, military officials said today. The soldiers initially spotted eight men exit a suspicious truck stopped alongside the road. The men quickly dropped several artillery rounds before driving to a nearby village, where about 10 more men gathered around the truck. Within minutes, the truck drove off, and four insurgents started walking toward the makeshift bomb. Splitting into two teams, two team members positioned themselves off...

OGUNQUIT — Ogunquit (Maine) Police Officer Matt Buttrick got a bit of a surprise when he visited a residence on Adams Lane on March 3. He went there to check for the presence of someone wanted because of an outstanding warrant, but came away not only with the individual in question but also with a cache of weapons. The weapons included a Thompson 45-caliber semi-automatic carbine, two .308-caliber rifles, a .22-caliber, a six-shot derringer, and a .32-caliber Beretta pistol. “The Thompson was fully loaded, in a case with the case open,” said Lieutenant David Alexander. “The Beretta was found with...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, captured two terrorists in Abu Ghraib Feb. 26. Soldiers from the battalion’s Company B were conducting a routine inspection of vehicles in western Abu Ghraib. Prompted by his previous experiences in Iraq, 1st Lt. Scott Treadwell, Co. B, ordered his Soldiers to search a suspicious vehicle. Treadwell’s men discovered two known murderers of Iraqi civilians. The two men were carrying rifles and contracts for the murder of other Iraqis. A day prior, Soldiers from the battalion’s Co. C found a large weapon...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2006 – An al Qaeda military leader was killed today during a raid in Baghdad, and U.S. soldiers discovered a weapons cache Feb. 22, Multinational Force Iraq officials said. A raid in northern Baghdad by coalition forces, with assistance from Iraqi police, resulted in the death of Abu Asma, the al Qaeda "military emir of northern Baghdad." Intelligence reports indicated Abu Asma was in possession of and expected to use suicide-bomber vests against Iraqi civilians and security forces. Abu Asma, also known as Abu Anas and Akram Mahmud Al Mushhadani, was an explosives expert with close ties...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2006 – Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers killed four terrorists and uncovered weapons caches in multiple recent incidents, military officials reported. Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, spotted insurgents launching a mortar round and requested support from attack aviation aircraft southwest of Baghdad yesterday. After firing the mortar round, the terrorist team placed the mortar system into a white pickup truck and drove away, officials reported. A coalition forces fixed-wing aircraft later observed five men digging on the side of a canal. The individuals digging were confirmed as the same men who had fired...

WASHINGTON, – Iraqi and U.S. forces conducted raids on two targets in Iraq's Diyala province and a raid west of Baghdad that netted a total of 106 individuals and a weapons cache, Multinational Force Iraq officials said. The 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, advised by U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers, conducted assaults on two targets Feb. 12 in Diyala. The troops detained 102 persons of interest - 25 were on the Iraqi security forces "most wanted" list. They also killed two insurgents and discovered a large weapons cache. The combined Iraqi and U.S. forces cordon-and-search missions were...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2006 – Iraqi soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, cleared the rural village of Subiyhat of insurgents yesterday, marking their second independent operation, officials said today. Marines from 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 8, assisted in the operation by providing security on the outer perimeter. The operation resulted in the detention of four suspected insurgents and enhanced relations between the citizens of Subiyhat and the Iraqi army, officials said. It was also another step toward the Iraqi unit's operational independence, said Marine battalion commander Lt. Col. David J. Furness....

Find Zarqawi! Find IEDS! This proposal is for civilian activists to use unclassified satellite imagery to locate buried IED caches, insurgent hotspots, and Al Qaeda leadership. This project is analogous to the SETI project that lets civilians Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence on their home computers, but rather than searching through radio signals, home computer users will volunteer to search the most recent commercial satellite imagery of Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, Indonesia, Lebanon, and the Phillipines for potential Al Qaeda leadership "safe houses," foot-trodden trails in mountains, or disturbed dirt that may indicate a recently buried weapons cache, etc. Positive suggestions...

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sam E. Smithson, a team leader with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, provides security while on patrol during Operation Red Bull II, Jan. 19, 2006, in Barwanah, Iraq. Smithson and his team continue to patrol and find weapons caches in the region. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sam Smithson Marine Leads Team on Weapons Hunts By Cpl. Adam C. Schnell 2nd Marine Division BARWANAH, Iraq, Feb. 1, 2006 — The Marines of 2nd Platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment constantly search...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2006 – U.S. soldiers destroyed an improvised explosive device attached to railroad tracks about 20 miles south of Baghdad Jan. 30. Elsewhere, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers yesterday discovered a large weapons cache stashed in a remote desert area, officials said. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers discovered the improvised explosive device on railroad tracks near Mahmudiyah. An explosive ordnance disposal team detonated the device without injuries or damage to structures. The IED was made of a 152 mm and a 122 mm artillery round attached to a motorcycle battery, two washing machine timers, detonation cord, and electric blasting caps,...

BARWANAH, Iraq (Feb. 1, 2006) -- The Marines of 2nd Platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment constantly search the palm groves and desert valleys here for insurgents and their weapon of choice … roadside bombs. Leading one of the platoon’s fire teams during hunts for weapons caches is Woodland, Calif., native, Lance Cpl. Sam E. Smithson. His fire team, with the help of the squad, is responsible for finding at least eight different caches since arriving in the area. In the last month, Smithson was part of two different operations, leading his Marines in finding many caches. His...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Jan. 13, 2006) — While conducting an air-insertion mission into the village of Shakaria, Iraq, Task Force Ironhorse Soldiers killed several insurgents, detained one and discovered a significant weapons cache Jan. 11. As part of Operation Falcon Sweep, Black Hawk helicopters landed near Shakaria Wednesday morning and Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment swept the village to identify terrorists. The 2-502nd Soldiers received small arms and indirect fire from insurgent forces at approximately 10:45 a.m. The Soldiers returned fire, killing six terrorists and wounding one other. Following the firefight, Soldiers discovered two dead insurgents...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2006 – Iraqi police pre-empted two suicide bombers today, a French hostage was rescued over the weekend, and an Iraqi citizen led soldiers to a weapons cache yesterday, military officials in Baghdad reported. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at noon today when they were denied access at an Iraqi police entry point to the Ministry of Defense compound, where an Iraqi Police Day ceremony was being held in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad, officials said. When Iraqi police denied the first suicide bomber entry into the compound, the terrorist detonated himself. A minute later, the...

American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2006 – Iraqi police pre-empted two suicide bombers today, a French hostage was rescued over the weekend, and an Iraqi citizen led soldiers to a weapons cache yesterday, military officials in Baghdad reported. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at noon today when they were denied access at an Iraqi police entry point to the Ministry of Defense compound, where an Iraqi Police Day ceremony was being held in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad, officials said. When Iraqi police denied the first suicide bomber entry into the compound, the terrorist detonated himself....

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2006 – Iraqi police in Mosul discovered an improvised explosive device yesterday, officials announced today. When an explosive ordnance detachment approached the IED to investigate, both the Iraqi police guarding it and the EOD were attacked by small-arms fire. EOD destroyed the IED, and no injuries or damages were reported. In other action, U.S. soldiers from Task Force Baghdad captured a suspected terrorist believed to be responsible for emplacing IEDs Jan. 6. Later in the day, another U.S. patrol detained a suspected terrorist with a book that described how to attack American soldiers and justified collateral damage...

January 7, 2006 Release A060107d Soldiers seize, destroy weapons caches BAGHDAD, Iraq – In separate operations, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers seized a significant amount of weapons Jan. 4, further denying terrorists the opportunity to bring harm to Iraqi civilians and Coalition Forces. One of the caches was so significant that Soldiers conducted a controlled detonation on the spot. While conducting a local presence patrol in south Baghdad, Soldiers discovered a weapons cache at approximately 1 p.m. The cache included 34 155mm artillery rounds, two 130mm artillery rounds, two 82mm mortar rounds, three 60mm mortar rounds, three TJ7 kickout mortar rounds,...

Troops Kill, Capture Terrorists, Seize Weapons Caches American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 – U.S. soldiers killed and captured terrorism suspects in Iraq Jan. 2, and U.S. and Iraqi forces seized weapons caches, military officials reported today. Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, killed a suspected terrorist and captured another after an attack on a coalition base near Balad. The soldiers immediately captured one suspect, but chased the second for two hours. The chase ended when the soldiers cornered the suspect in a grove of palm trees and killed him with return fire, officials...

January 02, 2006 Release A060102b Operation Green Trident turns up 72 caches CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – U.S. Marines discovered more than ten metric tons of munitions hidden at 72 cache sites 39 km south of Fallujah during the week-long Operation Green Trident. First Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 8 began the operation last week near the village of Al Latifiyah to search suspected locations for hidden weapon caches. More than 1,000 artillery and mortar rounds were unearthed along with scores of rocket propelled grenades and hand grenades. Most of the caches were shallowly buried along the banks...