Military

Raids Disrupt Terrorists; Citizen Leads Troops to Caches

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2005 – Coalition forces raided two terrorist safe houses in Mosul, Iraq, today, killing two terrorists and detaining three others, military officials reported.

The terrorists were suspected of having connections to senior al Qaeda leaders in Mosul and northern Iraq.

Upon entering the first terrorist safe house, coalition forces were engaged with small-arms fire by two of the men. Coalition forces immediately returned fire, killing the two terrorists. Troops searched and secured the safe house, detaining one additional terrorist who was hiding in the house. Coalition forces then moved to the second safe house, where they detained two terrorists without incident.

The coalition's use of multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens has resulted in capturing or killing at least four "emirs," or regional leaders, during the past four months, military officials said.

Elsewhere, an Iraqi citizen led coalition forces to four weapons cache sites southwest of Kirkuk today.

The man stopped a patrol, 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.

Iraqi army troops working with coalition forces found and cleared a weapons cache Sept. 18 in northern Fallujah. Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, rounded up the weapons and transported them for later disposal by an Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team. The stash consisted of a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, three RPG-7 rockets, two 120 mm mortar rounds, an AK-47 rifle, three half-full AK-47 magazines and four unidentified rocket launchers. Also on Sept. 18, Iraqi security forces identified and cleared a car bomb in the Rusafa district of Baghdad. Police officers on patrol investigated a parked vehicle and immediately secured the area after noting some suspicious-looking wiring. An Iraqi EOD team was called in and successfully defused the device. The bomb consisted of artillery and mortar shells wired to a battery and a two-way radio. No injuries or damages were reported.

In the air war over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 46 close-air-support and armed-reconnaissance sorties Sept. 18 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities, and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities, U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials said.

Coalition aircraft also supported Iraqi and coalition ground operations to create a secure environment for ongoing Transitional National Assembly meetings, officials said.

Eight U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Royal Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. U.S Air Force and Royal Air Force fighter aircraft also performed in a nontraditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq and U.S. Central Command Air Forces news releases.)

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Sep2005/20050919_2787.html