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Followers of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also want new elections amid political crisis and fresh violence in Baghdad. A suicide attack killed five people at the interior ministry in Baghdad as a key political bloc called for early elections in a worsening standoff that has stoked sectarian tensions. The blast, which left dozens wounded on Monday, came just days after the capital was struck by its deadliest violence in more than four months. The parliamentary coailtion loyal to anti-US Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said it backed the dissolution of parliament and early elections in a dispute that has seen Iraq's...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed an enemy fighter, detained 10 suspected terrorists and found weapons during recent operations throughout Baghdad, military officials said. Coalition troops killed one man and detained five others allegedly connected to al-Qaida. The individuals are believed to be involved in assassinations, bombings and financial conspiracies for the group against coalition and Iraqi forces. Various weapons were confiscated during the operation, officials said. In operations yesterday: -- Iraqi soldiers captured four suspected terrorists who allegedly attacked coalition forces in the city’s Rashid district. The individuals ambushed the U.S. police training team with...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq today killed nine enemy fighters and detained 13 suspects during a series of operations across the country that targeted al-Qaida and its foreign-terrorist network, military officials said. -- In Baghdad, coalition detained a wanted man who allegedly is part of al-Qaida operations north of the city. Another suspect also was detained. -- Sixty miles west of Baghdad, coalition forces captured a wanted man linked to the movement of terrorists into Iraq. -- Coalition forces detained 10 more suspected terrorists during operations in northwestern Iraq. -- Coalition forces used Hellfire missiles to...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – The people of Sadr City are cooperating with Iraqi forces, but clearing the crowded portion of Baghdad is a painstaking procedure, an Iraqi government spokesman said in Baghdad today. Tahseen al-Sheikhly and Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a coalition spokesman, discussed ongoing operations in Sadr City during a news conference. “We see some places in Baghdad like Sadr City, suffers from the control of the criminal gangs and make those people suffer,” Sheikhly said through a translator. “The Iraqi government exerted a lot of effort to provide the needs for the people of Sadr City.”...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – Coalition forces killed a wanted terrorist and detained 23 suspects in two days of operations targeting terrorist cells around Iraq. Coalition forces targeted the wanted terrorist during an operation west of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The man refused to comply with an interpreter's instructions and, perceiving hostile intent, coalition forces engaged and killed him. The terrorist was a leader in the al-Qaida in Iraq network in Salahuddin province, coalition officials said. Another wanted man, believed to be part of the same network, was detained with an additional suspect in a separate operation...

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2008 – Iraqi and coalition forces detained 15 suspected terrorists, including two wanted individuals, while targeting al-Qaida operations throughout Iraq today. -- In two coordinated operations 60 miles north of Baghdad, coalition forces detained nine suspected terrorists, including a wanted man believed to work in the foreign-terrorist-facilitation network. When coalition forces arrived at the target building, three suspects crept out the back and into tactical positions behind a vehicle. Coalition forces perceived hostile intent from the men and called for supporting aircraft to engage them. One suspected terrorist was wounded in the engagement and taken to a...

Soldiers from the 3/31/8 IA Div. and Co. B, 2-502nd Inf. Regt., wait to begin a raid of several houses in Jabella, Iraq, May 2. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amanda McBride. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — In an effort to clear out criminals in the area, Iraqi Army Soldiers raided several houses in the city of Jabella, Iraq, May 2. With support from Coalition forces, the raid resulted in the detainment of 29 suspected insurgents.Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 31st Brigade, 8th IA Division, led the early morning raid, with help from Soldiers with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – An M1A2 Abrams tank crew fired a 120 mm round at two attackers on a rooftop, killing both, during fighting in northeastern Baghdad today, military officials reported. A nearby U.S. patrol had struck a roadside bomb, and two men on a nearby rooftop then engaged the Americans with small-arms fire. No U.S. soldiers were injured in the attack. “When attacked or when we observe an imminent attack, we will respond with appropriate force,” said Army Col. Allen Batschelet, Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division chief of staff. In yesterday’s operations in Iraq: -- U.S....

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured dozens of enemy fighters and terrorists during operatrions conducted throughout Iraq over the past three days. Coalition forces captured two suspected Iranian-trained insurgents early this morning in the Rashid district in Baghdad. Intelligence information led coalition forces to the location of an individual suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons. He is also suspected of providing information to other insurgent leaders that led to rocket attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces. The terrorist surrendered without incident. Coalition forces conducted a follow-on mission to capture another suspect. There, they detained an...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Coalition forces found a weapons cache of explosively-formed penetrators in the southern Baghdad community of Warij May 2. Soldiers from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division were on patrol in Warij and found four EFPs hidden in an office closet shelf of a factory. A brand new 107 mm rocket was also discovered. The EFPs were covered with foam and had wires leading from the back. Forty pounds of unknown bulk explosives, a rocket sled and blasting caps were also found. A guard at the factory was detained after...

A member of the Iraqi national police creates an inventory of illegal weapons confiscated by Iraqi national police in the Sadr City District of Baghdad, Iraq, as he turns them over to members of the 42nd brigade, 11th Iraqi army division, at Combat Patrol Base Comanche on April 19. (US Air Force photo/Technical Sergean Adrian Cadiz) US and Iraqi forces continue to target the Mahdi Army as an Iraqi delegation visited Iran to confront the country over its support of Shia militias battling the government. The US military conducted a guided rocket attack on a Special Groups headquarters adjacent...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi citizens, who witnessed a vehicle borne improvised explosive device that killed one Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier, turned over a criminal to the Iraqi National Police, May 1. The citizens observed a man parking a vehicle and walking a significant distance away from it. They saw the man using a cell phone before the detonation. After the blast, Iraqi citizens chased the criminal and made a citizen’s arrest. The criminal was turned over to the Iraqi National Police, where he tested positive for explosive compounds. Two other criminals were also apprehended after they were observed and identified...

The newspapers are predictably filled with articles about how 52 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq last month – the highest toll since September. Iraqi civilian casualties are also said to be at the highest level since August. These losses are being used to cast aspersions on claims of progress in Iraq. Even one death is too many and 52 deaths is tragedy multiplied 52-fold. But let's keep some perspective. As the icasualties.org website makes clear, for better or worse, April was still one of the lighter-casualty months during the long war in Iraq. More important, casualties cannot be looked at...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed at least three enemy fighters, captured 55 suspects, and seized weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. In Iraq today: -- Coalition troops detained four suspected terrorists during raids in Mosul targeting members of the local al-Qaida in Iraq network responsible for attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces. -- Using information gleaned in previous operations, coalition forces detained four suspected terrorists in a separate raid in Mosul. -- Iraqi and coalition forces captured two wanted men and two additional suspects 15 miles northwest of Baghdad. One...

BALAD — Iraqi Special Operations Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces captured a Special Groups commander in Baghdad April 30. ISOF conducted the operation to detain the Special Groups commander who has been leading attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces in the area. The man is believed to be a weapons smuggler, and is reported to conduct improvised explosive device and indirect fire attacks. Intelligence reports link him to an IED attack in October 2007 that killed four U.S. soldiers, and a mortar attack in October 2007 that killed one U.S. Soldier. During the operation, ISOF received small-arms fire from...

MEXICO CITY, April 30, 2008 – As Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stands up to insurgents threatening Iraq, it’s serving to unify his once-splintered government, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters here last night. Gates pointed to Maliki’s Iraqi-led crackdown against Shiite militias, primarily Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia, known as the Mahdi Army, or Jaysh al-Mahdi. While conceding that operations in and around the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City have seen more U.S. and Iraqi casualties, Gates said part of it is because coalition and Iraqi forces are operating in new areas. Another part is because of mixed...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers killed 28 criminals in an extended small-arms fire engagement against Special Groups criminals in eastern Baghdad April 29.At approximately 9:30 a.m., a U.S. patrol received small-arms fire, wounding an MND-B Soldier. As the Soldier was being evacuated, a U.S. vehicle was struck by two improvised explosive devices, and received small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.One vehicle was damaged in the attack and two other Soldiers were injured. The three Soldiers and a fourth also injured in the heavy SAF and RPG attacks that followed were evacuated to a nearby combat outpost.Another U.S. vehicle was...

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2008 – Coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained 12 suspects today during operations in the northern half of Iraq. -- Coalition forces targeted a suspect wanted for aiding foreign terrorists at a suspected terrorist safe-house about 60 miles north of Baghdad. Forces killed three armed terrorists there, and five others were detained. -- Coalition forces nabbed four suspects in Mosul. -- In Beiji, about 100 miles south of Mosul, forces captured the leader of a car-bomb cell along with two others. In operations around Iraq yesterday: -- In Baghdad, an aerial weapons team and an M1A2...

TIKRIT, Iraq – Local citizens in the Diyala Province fended off an attack from al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists April 28.Coalition forces received information from local leaders that citizens and local Sons of Iraq fought against an enemy attack and killed 12 AQI terrorists.One Sons of Iraq member was also killed and three were wounded.There were also several local citizens wounded.“Iraqi citizens are tired of the insurgent’s violence and are stepping up to help keep their fellow citizens safe,” said Maj. Peggy Kageleiry, spokesperson for Multi-National Division-North.-30-

Citizens of the Hyyaniyah district of Basra, Iraq, greet Iraqi Army soldiers with smiles as they push through clearing the district of criminals and weapons caches April 19. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Eric J. Glassey. BASRA — As part of ongoing operations to secure the Hyyaniyah district in Basra, Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces searched the area of criminals and weapons caches last week. The ISF involved were Soldiers from 1st Division, 14th Division; the 26th Brigade attached to the 1st Division; a Battalion with the National Police from Baghdad; and elements from an Emergency Police Battalion.“It went rather well...