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Combined Operation Nets Massive Cache American Forces Press Service TAJI, Iraq, Oct. 18, 2004 -- More than 400 57 mm rockets, 7,275 rounds of 14.5 mm anti-aircraft ammunition, and one U.S. tube-launched optically tracked wire- guided missile were just the tip of the iceberg during a recent weapons cache discovery north of Iraq. "We would begin digging in a new area, and we just kept finding stuff," said the 2nd Battalion, 7th Calvary Regiment senior Iraqi National Guard advisor Capt. Mark Leslie, of the 39th Brigade Combat Team. The discovery began with a tip from a reluctant informant. Rumors...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 October 9, 2004Release Number: 04-10-24 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IRAQI SECURITY FORCES AND MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES FOIL CAR BOMB ATTACK, DETAIN 14 MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi Security forces and Multi-National Forces from 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) foiled a car bomb attack and detained 14 people wanted for Anti-Fraqi activities Friday in northern Iraq. Iraqi Police foiled a car bomb attack in the Mosul neighborhood of Palistine after they noticed a vehicle with exposed wires parked on road....

SAMARRA, Iraq - Bloodied by weeks of suicide bombings and assassinations, Iraqi security forces emerged Sunday to patrol Samarra after a morale-boosting victory in this Sunni Triangle city, and U.S. commanders praised their performance. American and Iraqi commanders have declared the operation in Samarra, 60 miles northwest of Baghdad, a successful first step in a major push to wrest key areas of Iraq (news - web sites) from insurgents before January elections. But locals were angered by the civilian death toll. Of the 70 dead brought to Samarra General Hospital since fighting erupted, 23 were children and 18 were women,...

SAMARRA, Iraq, Oct. 1 - American and Iraqi forces battled their way into the center of this insurgent-ridden city on Friday, claiming that they had taken control of more than half the town and that they had killed more than 100 guerrillas, in what is shaping up to be one of the largest military operations since the war began. More than 5,000 troops, including 3,000 Americans, attacked the city from three sides early on Friday, seizing the main government buildings and a pharmaceutical factory on the city's northwest end. Iraqi forces also took control of the Golden Mosque, a Shiite...

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major attack against the insurgent stronghold of Samarra early Friday, securing government and police buildings in the city, the U.S. command said. Troops of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, Iraqi national guardsmen and Iraqi army troops took part in the assault, the military said in a news release. The attack, the statement said, came in response to "repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces" against Iraqi and coalition forces. Its aim was to kill or capture insurgents in the city, located 60 miles north of Baghdad.

NATIONAL GUARD RESCUE SIX TURKISH FROM KIDNAPPING The individuals of 203 battalion of the Iraqi National Guard have foiled a kidnapping attempt launched by the terrorists near Dijel district on 27th September against Turkish persons as the individuals of battalion were on patrols once they saw terrorists attempting to kidnap a vehicle carries six Turkish persons.Notably, those Turkish are contractors working at Kelok Brown company and rented a car for transporting them to Turkey.Later on, the troops of the national guard clashed with the terrorists and forced them to retreat. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SESSION SHED LIGHT ON ELECTRICITY, SECURITY Baghdad, As-Sabah,...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 September 27, 2004Release Number: 04-09-83 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS THWART HIJACKING ATTEMPT TIKRIT, Iraq – Soldiers from the 203rd Iraqi National Guard Battalion thwarted a hijacking attempt by anti-Iraqi forces near Ad Dujayl at about 3:45 p.m. Sept. 27. The 203rd was conducting a patrol along a main supply route when the soldiers saw anti-Iraqi forces attempting to hijack a vehicle in which six Turkish nationals were riding. The Turkish nationals are employees of a Kellogg Brown...

U.S. Arrests Commander of Iraqi Nat'l Guard Sunday, September 26, 2004 BAGHDAD, Iraq — American troops have arrested a senior commander of the U.S.-trained Iraqi National Guard (search) for alleged ties to insurgents, underscoring the obstacles toward building a strong Iraqi security force capable of taking over from U.S. troops and restoring stability to the country. Lt. Gen. Talib al-Lahibi (search), who previously served as an infantry officer in Saddam Hussein's army, was detained Thursday in the province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a spokesman for coalition forces in Iraq. Boylan said Sunday that authorities...

A senior member of the Iraqi National Guard is in custody after being arrested for suspected links with insurgents, the US military has said. Gen Talib al-Lahibi, in charge of security for Diyala province north-east of Baghdad, was detained on Thursday. He was appointed to the post only a week ago. The Iraqi National Guard is recruited and trained by the US, which is attempting to build up a local force able to ensure security in the country. "Lahibi was detained by multinational forces on 23 September for having associations with known insurgents," a US military statement said. Gen...

Iraqi colonel arrested as a rebel spy By Aqeel Hussein in Samarra (Filed: 26/09/2004) A colonel in the Iraqi National Guard has been arrested on charges of aiding insurgents by passing on tip-offs about planned raids on resistance safe houses. Samir Al-daraji led a unit of Iraqi troops that carried out raids around the rebel-held city of Samarra, north west of Baghdad. American troops arrested him last week after a series of operations went wrong and troops attacked empty houses that had previously been identified as resistance command centres. "It is true that Col Al-daraji gave information to the resistance,"...

BAQUBA, Iraq, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The U.S military said on Sunday it arrested the head of the Iraqi National Guard in the city of Baquba, only a week after appointing him, on suspicion of collaborating with insurgents. Lieutenant General Talib al-Lahibi headed the Iraqi National Guard in the violent Diyala province and commanded three battalions before being arrested on Thursday. "Lahibi was detained by Multi-National Forces Sept 23 for having associations with known insurgents," the U.S. military said in a statement. "Talib is currently in Multi-National Forces control." Lahibi had been appointed to his new post only a...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops stormed a mosque in the Iraqi capital Saturday to search for illegal weapons, the U.S. military said. Religious officials said the raid left a trail of overturned furniture, scattered holy books and broken windows. Capt. Tom Burrel of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division said no weapons were found during the raid on the Ibn Taymia Mosque in west Baghdad. He said U.S. forces searched the shrine's compound while guardsmen entered the mosque itself. Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaei, the head of the Supreme Association for Guidance and Daawa, a conservative Sunni...

BAGHDAD, Iraq Sept. 25, 2004 — Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying Iraqi National Guard applicants in Baghdad on Saturday, killing six people, police said. The group had just left a national guard recruiting center where they had signed up to join the force in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Jamiyah when the attack occurred, said police Lt. Omar Ahmed. On Wednesday, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside a photocopy shop in Al-Jamiyah where national guard applicants were readying their papers before heading to the recruiting center. At least six people died and 54 were wounded. Militants...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894   September 21, 2004Release Number: 04-09-69 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAR BOMB ATTACK THWARTED NEAR BAGHDAD MOSQUE BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi Police and National Guard troops prevented a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device from inflicting civilian casualties Sept. 21 in western Baghdad. At about 11:30 a.m. a suspicious vehicle approached a checkpoint manned by Iraqi National Guard troops near the Mula Hawaysh Mosque. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene when approached by security forces. Iraqi police called in Iraqi...

Most of Iraq Under Local Control by Year's End, Officials Say By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2004 – If the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces continues apace, then most of the country will be under local control by the end of the year, Pentagon officials said today. Army Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, director of strategic plans on the Joint Staff, said that is the conclusion reached by Multinational Force Iraq commander Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. He said the northern part of the country – including the areas around Mosul and Kirkuk...

Explosive device backfires on anti-Iraqi forces Camp Babylon, Iraq – Iraqi National Guard troops patrolling in the Wasit Province area of the Polish-led Multi-National Division Central South, reported that anti-Iraqi forces blew themselves up as they prepared an Improvised Explosive Device in Suwayra Sept. 19. The explosion occurred just after midnight killing several anti-Iraqi force personnel as they prepared the IED for Iraqi forces, Iraqi citizens or Multi-National Forces to come upon. Iraqi security and Multi-National forces will continue to counter and disrupt anti-Iraqi activities, working for a free, secure and prosperous Iraq. Release #040919c

CAIRO, Egypt - A videotape showing several Arab men seated at gunpoint - purportedly kidnapped Iraqi soldiers - was aired on an Arabic television station Sunday, and the announcer said they were threatened with death unless a detained Shiite leader is freed within 48 hours. The video was from a group calling itself the Brigades of Mohammed bin Abdullah and claimed to have 25 captive members of the Iraqi National Guard, according to Al-Jazeera television, which obtained a copy of it. The brief video clip aired by the station showed men in military dress sitting on the floor, with men...

Group threatens to kill 15 Iraq soldiers-TV 19 Sep 2004 17:13:46 GMT DUBAI, Sept 19 (Reuters) - An Islamist group has threatened to kill 15 captured Iraqi soldiers if authorities do not release an aide to Shi'ite rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr within 48 hours, Arab television Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. It showed a video of masked gunmen standing near a group of uniformed men it said were members of Iraq's National Guard.

KIRKUK, Iraq - A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a crowd of people waiting to apply for jobs with the Iraqi National Guard in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 16, officials said. Also Saturday, the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired video footage of what it said were two Americans and a Briton kidnapped two days ago from their house in central Baghdad. The footage shown on al-Jazeera showed them blindfolded and said they were being held by alleged terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The authenticity of the tape could...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 September 18, 2004Release Number: 04-09-56 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD CONDUCTS HAIFA STREET RAID Early this morning Ministry of Interior security forces, with the support of the Iraqi National Guard and in cooperation with Multi-National Forces, carried out a surprise operation in the Haifa Street area of Baghdad. As a result, 63 persons were arrested, including Iraqi, Egyptian, Sudanese and Syrian nationals. Those arrested are suspected of major crimes and terrorist operations. During the course of the successful operation...