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WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2004 – U.S. military operations in Iraq are becoming more fluid as Iraqi security forces and elements from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force press forward with efforts to disrupt anti-Iraq forces in Fallujah and Ramadi.
In a press statement from Baghdad today, military officials gave more details of military action over the past 24 hours, where Marines and Air Force aircraft have been conducting offensive operations in and around Fallujah and Ramadi. - At 3:30 a.m. Nov. 5, a U.S. Marine Corps aircraft supporting a U.S. Marine Corps unit destroyed a preplanned target, a building known to house anti-aircraft capabilities.
- At 7:25 p.m. Nov. 5, Marine Corps aircraft used precision munitions to destroy a weapons cache. On Nov. 6, Marines also discovered a separate weapons cache, with 388 mortars, 80 artillery shells, 42 tank rounds, 16 rocket warheads, and 2 mortar tubes.
- At 11:30 p.m. Nov. 5, a U.S. Air Force aircraft supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element destroyed an anti-aircraft weapon.
- At 12:20 a.m. Nov. 6, a U.S. Air Force aircraft supporting a U.S. Marine Corps element destroyed three barricaded fighting positions.
It was also reported that just before midnight Nov. 5 a military base known as Camp Babylon came under mortar attack. One explosion was heard in the vicinity of the camp, while another mortar grenade exploded inside the camp. There were no casualties and no damages. In another incident at around 2:40 p.m. today, three Task Force Baghdad soldiers were injured when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was detonated near their convoy in western Baghdad. The three injured soldiers were medically evacuated to a Multinational Force medical facility. Initial reports from the scene of the attack indicate one Iraqi bystander was killed by the blast and another seriously wounded. The wounded Iraqi was evacuated to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, military officials reported, Iraqi security forces and U.S. Marines have intensified efforts to "hunt down anti-Iraqi forces fomenting violence and terrorizing the local populace." Iraqi security forces and U.S. Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit rounded up 41 insurgents during early-morning raids and security operations Nov. 5 near Musayyib, about 40 miles south of the capital of Baghdad. Some of those detained were suspected of manufacturing improvised explosive devices and selling them to local street gangs. During separate raids north of Musayyib, near Lutafiyah, Marines detained two leaders of an insurgent cell and an individual suspected of engaging in anti- Iraqi activity. Another raid led to the arrest of 28 anti-Iraqi fighters who were targeted for acts of terrorism against Iraqi citizens. Marines operating in the northern sector also captured nine suspected insurgents in a series of raids near Yusufiyah. (Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)
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