Coalition, Iraqi Soldiers Capture Kidnappers, Terrorists, Seize Weapons

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2006 – In separate operations throughout Iraq today and July 31, coalition and Iraqi forces foiled a kidnapping attempt, captured eight terrorists, and seized numerous weapons, U.S. military officials in Iraq reported. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers foiled a kidnapping attempt by four men disguised as Iraqi policemen in southeastern Baghdad early today.

Soldiers from Company C, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, spotted four kidnappers dressed in Iraqi police uniforms attempting to abduct an Iraqi civilian. The four kidnappers were detained for questioning.

In another operation, Iraqi national police and soldiers from 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, captured eight suspected terrorists during a joint operation in the Doura neighborhood, near the center of Baghdad, at about 9:15 a.m. today. The operation focused on locating and detaining suspected terrorists; soldiers searched seven houses in the area. The soldiers detained the suspected terrorists and seized weapons, various bomb-making materials, terrorist propaganda and two vehicles.

Elsewhere, soldiers of 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from Battery B, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, located a munitions cache during a combined patrol in eastern Baghdad July 31. A tip from an Iraqi citizen led the patrol to a location where they discovered 18 60 mm mortar rounds in two separate ammunition boxes; the rounds had fuses already installed.

It took the soldiers less than 15 minutes from the time the tip was called in to locate the cache, officials said. The ordnance was collected and removed to a secured location in less than an hour.