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Scores of insurgents captured, weapons caches found

March 13, 2006

BAQUBAH, Iraq (Army News Service, March 13, 2006) – More than 50 insurgents were apprehended and 37 weapons caches were seized during raids by Iraqi and U.S. troops throughout Central Iraq March 3-12.

20 insurgents detained in raid

20 suspects were detained and a huge cache was discovered when Iraqi army and Coalition forces conducted a joint raid on a suspected anti-Iraqi forces’ hideout in Baqubah, March 10.

Soldiers from the 2nd and 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division working with Coalition troops captured the suspected AIF safehouse.

The cache contained:

• 15 155mm rounds

• three 120mm mortar rounds

• 30 82mm mortar rounds

• 200 60mm mortar rounds

• 57mm Recoilless Rifle rounds

• 100 RPG rounds

• 100 cans of 14.5mm rounds

• 22 SAGGER missiles

• and numerous types of small arms ammunition, and various improvised explosive device making materials.

“This operation, conducted by 2nd Brigade, 5th IA Division resulted in the capturing of terrorists who kill innocent civilians in an attempt to incite sectarian violence,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Johnson, the executive officer for 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Band of Brothers.

“The 5th IA Division units continue to demonstrate the ability to take the lead in securing Diyala,” Johnson said. “This operation has proven yet again their dedication to removing the terrorists and their weapons from inflicting harm on the people of Iraq.”

Eight of the detainees were listed on Diyala’s “high value targets” list.

Morning raid nabs 12 in Tikrit

Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers conducted a combined raid northeast of Baghdad March 10 to capture an insurgent cell suspected of committing numerous murders in the Narhwan area during the past two weeks.

Twelve suspects were taken into custody and a large cache of weapons and explosives was seized by Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division and Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

The cache contained 100 artillery shells, 400 mortar rounds, 100 rocket-propelled grenade warheads and four launchers, 22 anti-tank missiles, several pre-assembled improvised explosive devices and a large amount of bulk explosives.

The suspects are believed to be part of a group responsible for the killing of dozens of Narhwan area residents that occurred after the bombing of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra Feb. 22.

Hawijah patrol hauls in 11 insurgents

Eleven insurgents were captured by U.S. troops during simultaneous operations with Iraqi soldiers near the city of Hawijah, Iraq, March 12.

Bastogne Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, began multiple operations when Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT, spotted a truck carrying six men stop alongside the road near a U.S. military compound. Four of the men jumped out of the truck and started emplacing a 152 millimeter mortar round and 10 pounds of propellant intended for use as an improvised explosive device.

After several minutes of preparation, two of the men got back in the truck and sped off toward the nearby village of Al Quriashiya, with the two remaining insurgents left to finish setting the device. After emplacing a pressure switch and running fishing wire between the switch and a battery located on side of the road, the last two men took off on foot toward the nearby village of Saied Jala.

A helicopter surveillance team, patrolling the area at the time, observed the two men on foot and radioed their location to U.S. commanders on the ground. The surveillance team then spotted the truck containing the four other insurgents leaving Al Quriashiya.

While the pilots monitored the movement of the insurgents, commanders from the 1st Battalion swiftly organized a multi-faceted operation, dispatching three teams comprised of Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers.

“We believe the truck tried to hide in the village of Al Quriashiya,” said Major Kelly Kendrick, operations officer for the 1st Battalion. “They then headed to the village of Al Aethati, so we searched both.”

A combined ground and air assault, using two of the joint teams, ended with the capture of the truck and the five men inside at the time. The truck and four of the men tested positive for explosives. A ground assault team dispatched to the house Saied Jala and detained six military aged males who were inside when the team arrived.

Weapons cache bonanza in Baqubah

30 hidden weapons caches were discovered by Soldiers with the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the 5th Iraqi army Division and the Patriot Military Transition Team with 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers in Baqubah, March 3-12.

One of the caches was found after a detainee provided its whereabouts during an Iraqi army intelligence interrogation. It also happened to come out of the same field the detainee was arrested from, which had already been searched and produced an earlier cache.

“This type of operation denies the anti-Iraqi forces resources,” said Maj. Thomas Baccardi, the S-3 operations officer in charge for 3rd HBCT, 4ID, Task Force Band of Brothers. “It costs them their money, it cost them their mobility and it costs them their time. Efforts in this regard disrupts their tempo and facilitates our ability to target them accurately.”

Soldiers uncover 3 weapons caches, detain 6 suspects

In Baghdad, Soldiers from Multi-National Division – Baghdad uncovered three weapons caches in three separate events around the Iraqi capital city March 11.

Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, received a tip from a local resident that led them to a terrorist safe house east of Baghdad.

Soldiers conducted a cordon and search, resulting in the capture of six suspected terrorists, five AK-47 rifles, 15 AK-47 magazines, 400 AK-47 rounds of ammunition, knives, grenades, 23 propaganda discs and various types of bomb-making equipment.

Iraqi tips lead police to caches

Elsewhere in Kirkuk, tips from local citizens have led Iraqi police to weapons caches March 12. In one, police from the Qara Hinjeer Police Station uncovered more than 25 artillery rounds as well as a variety of smaller explosives near their village. The second tip led officers from the Orouba Police Station to a neighborhood dumpster. Inside, they found a variety rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades, and artillery fuses.

(Editor’s note: This story compiled by Sgt. Ken Hall at ARNEWS from contributions by Sgt. 1st Class Paul Schultz, and Staff Sgt. Joel Peavy, 1st BCT Public Affairs, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), FOB Warrior.)