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BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 13, 2005 – Iraqi soldiers stopped three terrorist attacks against a water plant, a military recruiting drive, and a hospital July 11, all around Baghdad.
No soldiers or civilians were injured in any of the attacks, and the Iraqi troops' efforts saved the lives of countless citizens, officials noted. At 3:25 a.m. that day, terrorists fired on Iraqi soldiers guarding the Khark Water Treatment Plant in north Baghdad. The guards returned fire, driving the attackers away and preventing any damage to the newly repaired facility, which provides fresh water to millions of people in the city. In west Abu Ghraib, Iraqi soldiers guarding the site of an Iraqi Army recruiting drive spotted a mortar round less than 100 yards away from their checkpoint. A dispatched team of explosives experts safely detonated the bomb. The third incident occurred just before noon, when a citizen told Iraqi soldiers he'd seen a car bomb parked near a hospital in south Baghdad. They secured the site and called in explosives experts to investigate. The team found a white car with wires running from the transmission to two batteries. It also found a bomb near the hospital consisting of four mortar rounds. The team safely removed the car bomb and munitions from the site. "These successes can be directly attributed to better-trained and more experienced Iraqi army soldiers patrolling the streets," said Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a Task Force Baghdad spokesman. "They're making their presence known and they're talking to Iraqis they meet while patrolling," Kent noted. "As a result, Iraqis are gaining more confidence in their Army and providing the Soldiers with more information, which they can use to disrupt insurgent cells." (Based on a Task Force Baghdad news release.)
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