Patrol Uncovers Weapons, Bomb Materials

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2005 - A routine patrol yielded significant results Nov. 27 when Task Force Baghdad soldiers discovered terrorists' weapons and bomb-making materials and detained four suspects in the Abu Ghraib district of western Baghdad, military officials reported.

Soldiers from B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, were traveling through an area known for attacks with improvised explosive devices when they saw something suspicious in a chicken coop behind a farmhouse.

They discovered what first appeared to be unexploded ordnance buried in the ground but slightly exposed on the surface. Explosive experts were called in and they destroyed the cache.

The soldiers found 19 rocket-propelled grenades, 16 82 mm mortar rounds, seven rifle grenades, six anti-tank mines, five rocket launchers, three rockets, three AK-47 assault rifles with 12 magazines, two hand grenades, two sniper rifles, two 130 mm artillery rounds, a pipe bomb, one mortar tube, one RPK rifle, a 9 mm pistol, one .50-caliber machine gun, 20 primers, 20 SKS magazines, and 10 pounds of various ammunition.

In other operations, after military observers witnessed a group of terrorists with RPGs, a Task Force Baghdad unit dispatched a patrol to investigate the situation, resulting in the capture of two terrorists Nov. 27.

The terrorists were first observed in a vehicle at an abandoned school south of Baghdad.

While en route to the abandoned schoolhouse, the soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, were engaged by the enemy in two separate incidents.

The U.S. patrol hit a roadside bomb. Later, the soldiers were engaged with small-arms fire from terrorists in a truck. The soldiers returned fire, forcing the terrorists to flee the area.

When the Company A soldiers reached the school, they spotted the two terror suspects with command wires in their hands. On further inspection, the soldiers determined the wires were connected to a roadside bomb, and detained the two terrorists for further questioning.

An explosive ordnance disposal team was called to the site to assess and detonate device.

Elsewhere, a resident of the Tissa Nissan area of eastern Baghdad flagged down a patrol from the Iraqi Public Order Brigade and provided information on the location of a possible roadside bomb Nov. 27.

U.S. soldiers from 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, responded to the scene to provide more security and to keep civilian traffic at a safe distance from the bomb.

Around 9:30 a.m., a coalition forces explosive ordnance disposal team arrived at the site and removed the device to another location for destruction.

"It's great to have the Iraqi and U.S. forces working together to secure Iraq," said Army Maj. David Fivecoat, battalion operations officer.

The roadside bomb consisted of two 82 mm and one 60 mm mortar rounds with an electronic detonating device.

In other news, Iraqi army troops from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, and coalition forces discovered and confiscated two weapons caches Nov. 27.

Troops found a cache north of Sadah, which consisted of one anti-tank mine, 28 122 mm rounds, one 120 mm round, one 100 mm round, eight propane tanks filled with explosives, seven blasting caps and other miscellaneous bomb-making materials.

Later, soldiers discovered a cache of 35 hollowed-out 155 mm rounds north of Husaybah.

In other developments, Task Force Baghdad soldiers stopped terrorists from placing IEDs on a road south of Baghdad Nov. 26.

Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, observed two Iraqis tampering with a hole left behind from an earlier IED attack and digging holes in the surrounding area.

The terrorists were positively identified to have been emplacing IEDs in the holes and suspected of collecting explosives from two houses in the surrounding area.

As air support was called in to look closer at the situation, the men dove into a ditch to hide. Attack aviation helicopters engaged the terrorists, killing one and injuring the other.

While clearing the area, soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, came across the IED, which had a detonation cord running up the road.

An EOD team called to the site detonated the device.

(Compiled from Task Force Baghdad and Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq news releases.)

Related Site:

Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq [http://www.mnstci.iraq.centcom.mil]

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