WEAPONS CACHE DISCOVERED IN MOSQUE NEAR TARMIYAH

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces, with the help of a local Imam and the Iraqi Army, detained two suspected terrorists and uncovered a weapons cache Thursday inside a mosque near Tarmiyah.

Intelligence reports indicated that al-Qaida in Iraq foreign fighter facilitation cells were operating in the area and were using the mosque for weapons storage.

The local Imam and Iraqi Army personnel entered the mosque and secured the two suspects handing them over to Coalition Forces for questioning.

RAMADI, Iraq – Members of the Iraqi 2nd Battalion Emergency Response Unit discovered a weapons cache while conducting a patrol north of Ramadi Feb. 1.

The cache consisted of 200 various sized mortar rounds ranging from 60mm to 120mm, fourteen Katusha Rockets, five 155 mm rounds prepared as improvised explosive devices and 86 mortar fuses.

“Emergency Response Units serve as a quick reaction force to augment and support the police in Anbar province,” said Coalition spokesman Army Maj. Kirk Slaughter. “They are made up of Iraqi citizens and are led by the commander of the Iraqi Police in Anbar. There are nearly 500 more Iraqis in training to become members of the ERU.”

BAGHDAD—Iraqi Army troops captured cache of weapons and explosives in the western Baghdad neighborhood Feb. 2.

Working from a tip given to the 6th Iraqi Army headquarters, elements of the 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army searched an abandoned house in Kahdra Feb. 2.

Inside the house, the troops found 19 57mm rockets, four rocket-propelled grenade rounds, nine 120mm mortar rounds, five 100mm mortar rounds, three 107mmm rockets, five 130mm artillery rounds, nine 122mm artillery rounds, one 152mm artillery round, two 85mm projectiles, one 155mm artillery round, two roadside bomb timers, one mortar tube, five AK-47s and two machine guns.

The former occupants of the house are unknown. The explosives were taken to a U.S. base by EOD for disposal.

AR RAMADI, Iraq – A gathering of more than two dozen sheiks and Iraqi leaders formed a municipal council Thursday in order to streamline and prioritize building projects in the Zangora area west of Ramadi.

Coalition Force members, who will act as facilitators for project funding, were on hand at the meeting to answer questions from the visiting dignitaries and present the rules governing the rebuilding.

Sheik Ahmed Bezia Ftaykan, one of the leaders of a group of sheiks who are fighting against Anti-Iraqi Forces, encouraged the community leaders to work with Coalition Forces to rebuild the community.

“It is a good start to reactivate the friendship between the Americans and the Al Anbar people,” he said afterwards through a translator. “(The sheiks) accepted it with an open heart.”

BAGHDAD – Coalition force Soldiers captured a suspected insurgent allegedly responsible for planning and conducting several improvised explosive device and car-bomb attacks in western Baghdad and Fallujah.

The capture occurred during operations Feb. 1 in Abu Ghraib district east of Baghdad International Airport.

The suspect is associated with the Al Qaeda in Iraq terror network. Three additional suspected insurgents were detained by Coalition force Soldiers.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Coalition Forces targeted the leadership of an al-Qaida in Iraq related vehicle-borne improvised explosives devices network Friday during an airstrike operation near Arab Jabour.

Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of VBIED attacks in the Baghdad area. They are also responsible for IED and sniper attacks conducted against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and Coalition Forces.

Coalition Forces believe that key terrorist leaders were killed during the airstrike. Results are still being assessed at this time.

Camp Echo, Iraq — Multi-National Division–Central-South (MND-CS) commander Maj. Gen. Pawel Lamla met with the Sheikhs Council of Al Qadisiyah province Feb. 1.

During the first meeting leading issues were connected with security and economic development of Al Qadisiyah province.

“I am glad that I met here Sheikhs who I cooperated with two years ago, during the 4th rotation of our Polish Military Contingent,” said Maj.Gen. Lamla. “MND-CS cares deeply about good cooperation with Sheikhs as representatives of local community.”

BAGHDAD – Coalition Forces captured a suspected improvised explosive device cell leader during operations Jan. 30 in western Baghdad. The suspect allegedly leads an Al Qaeda in Iraq linked group which attacks Coalition Forces with IEDs. The suspect supports AQI propaganda efforts by filming the attacks for use in AQI propaganda videos distributed via CDs and insurgent websites.

Coalition Forces detained an additional person for questioning.

There was minimal damage done to the objective. There were no Iraqi civilian or Coalition Forces casualties.

BAGHDAD – An operation in the Jaza’ir neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad uncovered a huge cache of weapons Jan. 28.

Soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, teamed up with police officers from the 2nd Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division and swept through the area after receiving tips from the local residents that insurgents were hiding weapons in the
area.

The top noncommissioned officer for Co. C, 1st Sgt. James Naughton, said going into the mission his Soldiers were expecting to capture a weapons cache, but had no idea of just how large it would be.

“It was huge,” he said. “We found 20 cell phone initiators, 20 artillery shells, 30 mortar rounds and thousands of rounds of ammo.”

Other items found included 17 hand grenades, 126 lbs. of explosives, as well as
night-vision equipment.

MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi policemen from station South East 6 killed two anti-Iraqi forces during a failed attack Jan 28. in Mosul, Iraq.

AIF launched the coordinated attack on the IP station that included rocketpropelled grenades, small-arms fire, and between 30 to 50 attackers on a ground assault team in the failed effort.

The Mosul-based IP at the station responded to the attack, immediately calling a quick reaction force, including Iraqi Army soldiers to support defense of the IP station.

Two AIF were confirmed killed and the IP suffered five wounded in the attack.

LUTIFIYAH, Iraq — Iraqi soldiers detained eight suspected terrorists at the Karch Oil Facility located just northeast of Lutifiyah, Iraq Jan. 28.

After responding to small arms fire in the vicinity of the oil facility, troops from 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division conducted a search. They discovered eight Iraqi men with illegal weapons.
All eight men were detained.

BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division – Baghdad aircraft engaged an insurgent mortar team in a northern neighborhood of the Iraqi capital Jan. 30.

At approximately 3:30 p.m., fixed-wing and rotary aircraft positively identified an insurgent mortar team in Baghdad’s Kadamiyah district. The insurgents were firing mortar rounds in the direction of the Kadamiyah Shrine. MND-B aircraft engaged the mortar team, their vehicles and the building from which they were operating.

BAQUBAH, Iraq – While conducting a route clearance mission east of Baqubah today, Soldiers from the 72nd Engineer Company, 1st Engineer Battalion, attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discovered an anti-tank mine after receiving tips from a local citizen within the area.

According to Sgt. 1st Class Sean Thomas, 72nd Engineer Company, the convoy was about to leave the village when a local citizen stopped them and gave them a “boom” signal. After talking with the townsperson, the Soldiers realized there was an anti-tank mine in the area.

“This means a lot to us,” said Thomas. “It means they are trusting us and knowing that we are not there to bring them harm -- we are there to protect them.”

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq – Soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division and C Troop, 6-9 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discovered a weapons cache while in contact with anti-Iraqi-forces (AIF) north of Balour, Iraq, Thursday.

Soldiers from 3-5 IA and 6-9 ARS came under small-arms fire while uncovering the weapons cache, which consisted of 31 mortar rounds with fuses and one mortar tube. The Soldiers returned fire killing one AIF carrying an AK-47 and PKC.

Approximately an hour later, the Soldiers began receiving small arms fire once again. An air weapons team, in support of the operation, identified three AIF carrying weapons and engaged them, killing all three.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces captured 21 suspected terrorists including a senior al-Qaida in Iraq courier, an improvised explosives devices cell leader and a foreign fighter facilitator during operations Sunday morning around Iraq.

In Baghdad, Coalition Forces captured three individuals with ties to senior al-Qaida in Iraq leadership.

During operations in Karmah, Coalition Forces captured 11 suspected terrorists including a high-level al-Qaida courier who is a known associate of multiple senior al-Qaida in Iraq personnel. He is also known for facilitating the movement of multiple senior al-Qaida personnel in the region.

Three suspected terrorists were detained in Ramadi, including the leader of an IED producing and emplacement cell.

In Bayji, four suspects were detained with ties to foreign fighter facilitation.

AR RAMADI, Iraq – An Al Jazeera Iraqi Police checkpoint approximately three kilometers from Camp Ramadi was attacked with a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device Friday. Despite the large size of the SVBIED, it only caused minor damage and minor injuries.

The vehicle approached the checkpoint shortly before 5 p.m. and was signaled by Iraqi police officers to slow down while it was several hundred meters away.

Without slowing, the vehicle continued toward the check point. Iraqi Police were forced to use small arms fire to stop the vehicle, which then detonated before reaching the checkpoint.

It is estimated that the SVBIED consisted of 10 122 mm projectiles, five 130 mm projectiles and three 57 mm rockets.
The explosive device damaged some of the barriers in front of the check point and scattered debris throughout the area.

“It was a big explosion, but it didn’t do much, thanks to the quick actions of the police,” said Coalition spokesman Maj. Riccoh Player.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 15 security detainees from January 19 to 25, for various crimes including illegal possession of special category weapons, joining armed groups to unsettle the stability and security of Iraq and illegal border crossing.

The trial court found a Syrian man guilty of illegal possession of special category weapons in violation of Order 3/2003 and Article 10/First/A of the Passport Law and sentenced him to 21 years imprisonment. Multi-National Forces apprehended the defendant after his vehicle was pulled over for attempting to engage a MNF convoy. One insurgent was shot and killed when he threw a grenade that failed to detonate. MNF searched the vehicle and found numerous weapons including three RPG’s, two RPK and two PKC machine guns and armor piercing ammunition. On Jan. 22, the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced him to six years imprisonment for the violation of the passport law and 15 years for the illegal weapons possession for a total of 21 years imprisonment.

The trial court found a Tunisian man guilty of Article 194 of the Iraqi Penal Code for Joining Armed Groups to Unsettle the Stability and Security of Iraq. The defendant was captured by private security guards near a checkpoint in Baghdad. The defendant was driving a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) which had broken down on a bridge. Attempting to elude capture, the defendant broke his arm jumping from the bridge. On Jan. 21 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment.

The trial court found three Iraqi men guilty of illegal possession of special category weapons in violation of Order 3/2003. MNF were conducting a snap vehicle inspection and stopped a vehicle suspected of an earlier RPG attack. MNF told the defendants to exit the vehicle in both English and Arabic but they were non-compliant. MNF searched the vehicle and found one grenade, one RPK machine gun, one loaded RPG launcher, three AK-47’s and extra ammunition for all the weapons. On Jan. 27 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced each of them to 15 years imprisonment.

Those convicted of passport violations, illegal possession of special category weapons and entering the country illegally were sentenced from between one to ten years imprisonment. Those convicted include 11 Iraqis and one each from Tunisia, Jordan, Sudan and Syria.

Since its reorganization, under an amendment to CPA order 13, in April 2004, the Central Criminal Court has held 1,840 trials for Coalition-apprehended insurgents. The proceedings have resulted in the conviction of 1,595 individuals with sentences ranging up to death.

Unfortunately, folks like these have their own idea of when the war will end -

via AP

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide truck bomber struck a market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad on Saturday, killing as many as 121 people among the crowd buying food for evening meals, one of the most devastating attacks in the capital since the war started.

Let me know the terms of the "Peace Treaty" you propose to negotiate with these animals before you do anything rash Hillary.

Sunni terrorist elements in Iraq have increased their attacks since the announcement of "the surge" (see google news returns for "mainly shiite areas" here.) Kudos to the Times for taking the obvious next step and acknowledging "the latest in a series of attacks against mainly Shiite commercial targets in the capital" as "part of a bid by Sunni insurgents to provoke retaliatory violence and kill as many people as possible ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security sweep."

That tactic has worked for months now. Thus far in this latest round the "Shi'ite response" has been limited, and multiple reports indicate Sadr's Mahdi Army has been ordered to keep a low profile. That tactic - if it can be maintained even while American lawmakers debate resolutions condemning the dispatch of a rescue mission - may prove a succesful option for the Shi'ite group, as obviously even the New York Times is noticing the one-sided nature of the post-surge announcement violence in Iraq. Thus far they haven't even included an obligatory quote from the Association of Muslim Scholars in their reports.