NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
February 29, 2004
Release Number: 04-02-55
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4th ID and Task Force Ironhorse operations
TIKRIT, Iraq - 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse soldiers
conducted 172 patrols and two raids and captured 28 individuals Friday
and Saturday.
Twenty-nine of the patrols were joint operations conducted with the
Iraqi police, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the Border Guard.
Weapons and equipment confiscated in raids and patrols throughout the
Task Force Ironhorse area of operation include six AK-47 assault rifles,
three SKS automatic rifles, seven rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, 35
mortar rounds, 23 sticks of dynamite, 201 tank rounds, 1,201 artillery
rounds, 90 rockets of various sizes, 15 rocket warheads and three
improvised explosive devices.
Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's 3d Brigade Combat Team
conducted a joint raid with ICDC forces in coordination with the Baghdad
police to capture Nahdem Al Marsumi, the leader of a terrorist cell
trying to operate out of Samarra. During the raid, coalition forces
captured seven individuals including Marsumi and five men known to be a
part of the terrorist cell. The ICDC also captured an individual
suspected of being involved in an attack at the Samarra City Council
building last month. Once the ICDC soldiers received a tip from a local
source on the whereabouts of Marsumi, they organized and initiated the
raid and were on site within two hours of receiving initial reports.
Task Force Ironhorse soldiers from the 555th Engineer Group located a
cache of ammunition buried approximately five kilometers east of Forward
Operating Base Speicher Feb. 27. The soldiers found more than a thousand
rounds of high explosive artillery and mortar rounds and 50 BLU-97
submunitions. The site was secured and an explosive ordinance team will
destroy the cache in place.
While on his way to work Feb. 27, an ICDC soldier observed some men
digging near a house north of Baiji. He reported the suspicious activity
to his supervisor who sent an ICDC patrol to investigate. The patrol
discovered an ammunition cache. They established an over-watch position
on the house and captured one individual suspected of burying the
ammunition when he returned to the site later that afternoon. The ICDC
seized the cache and turned in it to 4th ID soldiers. The cache included
20 68 mm helicopter rockets, seven rocket-propelled grenades, 17 82 mm
mortar rounds and six 60 mm mortar rounds.
Working together, 4th Infantry Division soldiers from 3d Battalion 67th
Armor Regiment, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and Iraqi police captured
five individuals suspected of anti-coalition activities in a joint raid
in the town of As Sadah in Diyala Province 27 Feb. The individuals are
suspects in the bombing of a local health clinic.
An Iraqi led soldiers from Task Force Ironhorse's 14th Engineer
Battalion to three weapon caches approximately 20 kilometers north of
Tikrit Feb. 27. The caches included five 82 mm rockets and 15 rocket
warheads. All three caches were destroyed in place.
While on patrols as part of Operation Trailblazer to clear the highways
of IEDs, soldiers from the 14th Engineer Battalion discovered a cache
consisting of 201 100 mm tank rounds located approximately 150 feet off
the north side of Highway One west of Balad. The cache was destroyed in
place without incident.
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