Courtesy Photo | BAGHDAD -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers, acting on a tip from an Iraqi citizen, seized...... read more read more
Task Force Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD --Iraqi and Coalition Forces continued to defeat terrorists by carrying out 42 raids and searches in and around Baghdad that netted 19 terror suspects and two weapons caches Oct. 16 through Oct. 18.
In the three days following Iraq's historic Constitutional Referendum vote, Iraqi and U.S. forces combined to conduct more than 1,600 patrols and man more than 700 traffic control points. Iraqi Security Forces performed more than 1,000 of the nearly 2,400 missions by themselves, and teamed up with U.S. Soldiers on more than 100 others.
The three days continued the trend of a relatively peaceful period in the city, signaling that Iraqis overwhelmingly chose to discard violence in favor of taking part in the democratic process of the Constitutional Referendum, said Task Force Baghdad Commander Maj. Gen. William Webster.
"We saw members of many different parties participating in a successful and safe voting process on Oct. 15," Webster said. "This was an unqualified success by any standard.
"As we continue our mission, however, we must stay vigilant," he added. "There are still those out there who want to kill innocent Iraqi citizens, destroy the economy, attack our forces and generally disrupt the democratic gains made with the Referendum."
Task Force Baghdad remained on the offensive even while ballots were still being tallied by election officials.
One of the largest combat operations was carried out by Iraqi Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division Oct. 18. Just after midnight, the Iraqi Army Soldiers captured five terror suspects during a raid against a terrorist safe-house in the Adhamiyah district of central Baghdad.
Many of the operations were based on tips from Iraqi citizens tired of terrorist violence in their neighborhoods.
One tip helped Task Force Baghdad Soldiers from the 70th Engineer Brigade seize three suspected bombers during a cordon-and-search operation in north Baghdad Oct. 18. The three men are thought to be involved in placing roadside bombs targeting Iraqi Security Forces, Coalition Forces and civilians in the area.
Later in the morning, a second citizen's tip helped Coalition Forces capture a suspected weapons dealer and terrorist organization financier during a cordon and search of two houses in north Baghdad.
Two days earlier, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers acted on another citizen's tip to seize a large weapons cache in west Baghdad Oct. 16.
When the Soldiers of the 48th Brigade Combat Team searched the area, they found a weapons cache consisting of 103 high-explosive rounds, 151 mortar rounds, six mortar tubes, 31 mortar fuses, five mortar base plates, two mortar tripods and a mortar sighting device.
The cache also contained two anti-tank weapons, an anti-aircraft machine gun, 10 sticks of dynamite, 25 grenades, one machine gun, four rifles, sniper scopes, a silencer, 8,000 rounds of ammunition and bomb-making materials.
Three suspects at the site were detained for questioning.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 10.20.2005 17:37 |
| Story ID: | 3418 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 122 |
| Downloads: | 54 |
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