|
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2006 – Iraqi and U.S. soldiers killed two terrorists and captured 16 in the Tikrit area, and Iraqi police and American troops captured eight suspected terrorists and destroyed two weapons caches in the Baghdad area, officials reported today.
Stacks totaling 502 82mm mortar rounds lay behind rows of 26 cases of 50 caliber ammunition, just part of a large weapons cache discovered by soldiers from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, in Babil province Feb. 13. Army photo
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. |
|
Iraq's National Police working with Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained the suspects today and destroyed the caches. Iraqi police from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Commandos, fired back at the terrorists, disabling their vehicle, after the insurgents conducted a drive-by shooting at the police Baghdad headquarters about 2 a.m.. One terrorist was wounded and detained as the others ran from their vehicle. The terrorists' vehicle contained one rocket-propelled grenade launcher, four rock-propelled grenade rounds, three AK-47 rifles, seven AK-47 magazines, and one PKC machine gun with about 300 rounds of ammunition, four hand grenades and explosive materiel. The commandos took the wounded terrorist to a local hospital. In the same hour in Babil province, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a large weapons cache, officials said. The cache consisted of 502 82 mm mortar rounds, 92 120 mm mortar rounds, 26 cases of .50-caliber ammunition and two cases of 58 mm anti-aircraft rounds. Earlier in the day, another patrol from the same battalion found two weapons caches in the same province. The two caches contained 15 155 mm artillery rounds, 15 60 mm mortar rounds, one 57 mm round, one 81 mm round and two seven-foot bombs of an unknown type. Coalition force explosive ordnance disposal units destroyed the caches. In the Baghdad area, U.S. troops caught two suspected terrorists hiding in a canal watching over a roadside bomb south of Baghdad during early yesterday. Both suspects were detained by soldiers from 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. A roadside bomb struck vehicles in which soldiers from 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, were riding as they patrolled south of Baghdad yesterday. Officials said there wasn't any damage to coalition forces equipment or personnel, and the soldiers caught and captured three suspected terrorists fleeing the scene. In the Tikrit area, Iraqi soldiers, supported by Task Force Band of Brothers units, conducted multiple raids in the villages of Khalaniya and Hembis, near the city of Muqdadiyah in Diyala Province yesterday. Two suspected terrorists were killed and one Iraqi soldier was injured during a brief firefight. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, searched the villages and detained 16 suspected terrorists. They also uncovered a cache of automatic weapons, IED-making materials, a rocket, and several mortar and artillery shells. Units from 4th Infantry Division's 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Airborne Division's 101st Combat Aviation Brigade provided security outside of the villages. (Compiled from Multinational Forces Iraq news releases.)
|
