Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Mosul Attack

The soldiers were part of Task Force Olympia. They were conducting a patrol when they were fired on from a mosque, according to news reports.

Also in Mosul on Dec. 4, Iraqi forces and members of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division detained 64 people suspected of anti-Iraqi activities and collected a large amount of weapons and munitions. Iraqi National Guard soldiers and soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment conducted a large-scale cordon-and-search operation in the town of Avgani, near Tal Afar, and detained 64 people suspected of planning and conducting attacks against coalition and Iraqi security forces.

Troops seized a large amount of weapons including a 120 mm mortar tube, three 120 mm mortar rounds, two 82 mm mortar tubes, 26 82 mm mortar rounds, two 60 mm mortar tubes, 14 60 mm mortar rounds, three improvised rocket launchers, five 122 mm high-explosive artillery rounds, seven 107 mm rockets, 22 rocket- propelled grenade rockets, 19 rifle grenades, 19 hand grenades, an anti- aircraft missile warhead, two 82 mm recoilless rifle rounds, 17 AK-47 assault rifles, seven pistols, a machine gun, six bags of propellant, 12 chemical- protective masks, two chemical protective suits, a set of night-vision goggles and miscellaneous switches and wires. All 64 suspects are in custody undergoing questioning, with no Iraqi or coalition injuries reported during the operation.

In actions near Tikrit today, insurgents killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded 13 others. The civilians were going to work at nearby coalition headquarters. Anti-Iraqi forces in two vehicles opened fire on civilian buses that had stopped to let the workers off. Iraqi National Guard and 1st Infantry Division soldiers secured the site of the attack and took the injured civilians to the Tikrit hospital. The incident is under investigation.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)