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BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 9, 2006 - Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, along with 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 506th Infantry Regiment's Military Transition Team, dealt the anti-Iraqi forces a blow when they detained an al-Qaeda in Iraq cell leader and seven other anti-Iraqi forces in two different raids in the Adhamiyah area May 4. The first raid led to the capture of the AQIZ cell leader and two other suspects, along with 17 full AK-47 magazines, 20 rolls of TNT, three pistols, two belts of 7.62 mm ammunition and eight boxes of pistol ammunition. The suspects were then taken into custody and questioned. "The apprehension of the cell leader was entirely the work of the Iraqi Army," said CPT Joshua Brandon, 4-320th FA MiTT. "We (US and Iraqi forces) have been tracking this guy and gathering joint intelligence for the last four months, but the Iraqi soldiers took the lead and detained this guy and got information on another weapons cache." Acting on a tip from the cell leader, the soldiers then mounted up again, this time with the help of the MiTT team, and moved out to the second location, where they detained the other five suspects and recovered eight timer switches, one Motorola-rigged detonator, an 82 mm mortar tube, three pipes for rockets, an 82 mm mortar tripod, a 60 mm mortar tripod, an 82 mm base plate, a large rocket, several nine-volt batteries rigged to switches and a bag of paraphernalia. "The Iraqi Army did a great job," Brandon said. "This was the best Iraqi Army ran mission that I have seen."The capture of the suspects and the weapons cache found help make the area safer for the civilians in the Adhamiyah area." |
