Iraqi Forces Conduct Raid in Baghdad, Seize Weapons, Detain Terrorists

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2006 – In separate operations yesterday and Aug. 6, Iraqi security forces captured 22 suspected terrorists and seized various weapons, U.S. military officials in Iraq reported. Iraqi security forces conducted an early morning raid in eastern Baghdad yesterday, capturing three individuals believed to be involved in punishment and torture cell activities.

As they received sustained automatic weapons and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from several insurgent positions in the Sadr City neighborhood, Iraqi forces and coalition advisers detained three suspected insurgents, conducted intelligence gathering on the objective, and then departed the area. Iraqi forces seized one AK-47 assault rifle and one magazine of AK-47 ammunition.

Coalition air assets provided precision fires in support of the operation, targeting positions from which Iraqi forces received large concentrations of enemy fire, including anti-aircraft fire. The one coalition soldier wounded during the operation was evacuated immediately to a U.S. military medical facility in Baghdad for emergency surgery. He is currently listed in stable condition. An Iraqi woman was injured on one of the objectives. According to a coalition force adviser, her injury was not life-threatening and Iraqi medics began treating her immediately on the scene.

In another operation, Iraqi policemen and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers found a weapons cache northwest of Baghdad Aug. 6. Iraqi police and soldiers from 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, requested support from the 463rd Military Police soldiers after being attacked by small-arms fire from multiple directions.

The police and soldiers maneuvered on the enemy and conducted house-to-house searches pending a cordon of the area set by U.S. military policemen. While cordoning off the area, 463rd soldiers found a weapons cache consisting of four rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, 31 RPG rounds, two 82 mm mortar systems, a 14.5 mm machine gun with 100 rounds, and two PKC machine guns. Thirteen suspects were detained during the cordon.

Elsewhere, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, detained six suspected terrorists and seized a large weapons cache during a raid of the Al Hassana'n Mosque in southwestern Baghdad at about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 6. The weapons cache consisted of four PKC machine guns, 13 AK-47 assault rifles, two rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, three RPGs, four RPG fuses, five 60 mm mortar rounds, a 60 mm mortar tube, a box of mortar cartridges, a flare gun, various bomb-making materials, and terrorist propaganda. The suspects were detained for questioning.