Two Soldiers Killed, One Injured in Separate Incidents

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2005 - Two Task Force Baghdad soldiers were killed when their patrol struck a roadside bomb north of Baghdad today, military officials reported.

The soldiers' names are being withheld pending notification of family.

In other news, a crewmember suffered minor injuries when a Bradley fighting vehicle struck a roadside bomb Nov. 28 in eastern Baghdad. The crewmember was treated and quickly returned to duty, officials said.

Elements of 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, and Iraqi police secured the area to prevent injury to nearby civilians.

"We have gathered some intelligence on who might be responsible, and we are working the issue right now with the Iraqi security forces and the local citizens to catch the responsible terrorists," said Army Col. Joseph DiSalvo, commander of coalition forces in eastern Baghdad. "The terrorists are willing to put innocent civilians at risk when they attack us. It is important that local civilians continue to turn in suspected terrorists to the Iraqi security forces."

Coalition and Iraqi security forces discovered several weapons caches across Iraq on Nov. 28.

As Iraqi and U.S. forces in Kirkuk continue unearthing weapons from a major cache discovered Nov. 27, several smaller caches were discovered around the north central region, officials said.

Iraqi police and soldiers joined troops from the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team to continue the systematic excavation and securing of a large cache unearthed outside an abandoned military base near Kirkuk. Several thousand mortar rounds already have been removed from the site.

A local resident led coalition troops to a weapons cache near Bayji. Soldiers found 18 large mortar rounds, 90 pounds of powdered explosives, a rocket motor and some small-arms ammunition. The rounds and explosives were taken away for disposal.

In the village of Shumayt, near Haqija, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers turned up a small amount of plastic explosives, some anti-aircraft artillery rounds, five assault weapons, sniper ammunition, and 200 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition.

A patrol operating from Logistics Support Area Anaconda near Balad discovered another collection of weapons. Soldiers seized hundreds of rounds of small-arms ammunition, four small rockets, 15 assault weapons and two night-vision scopes.

During the past week, Iraqi army soldiers and U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors of the 2nd Marine Division also discovered 66 weapons caches in Iraq's Anbar province.

U.S. and Iraqi forces found blocks of plastic explosives, sticks of TNT, artillery and mortar rounds used in vehicle and roadside bombs along with remote detonators. They also discovered machine guns, assault and sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and munitions.

In Haqlaniyah on Nov. 27, Iraqi soldiers and Marines excavated more than 8,800 heavy-machine-gun rounds along with 150 artillery, mortar and tank rounds. Information gained from local citizens indicated that the cache was buried about a month ago by three carloads of people working through the night.

Near Habbaniyah, four complete mortar systems, including their aiming sites and instruction manuals and more than a dozen remote detonators for roadside bombs, were found. Thirteen men were detained at the site for further questioning.

Caches were found and destroyed from Fallujah to Qaim. Many of these weapons and explosive cache sites were located after receiving information from local citizens, officials said.

Iraqi and coalition forces prevented two bombings in and around Baghdad on Nov. 26.

A citizen in Sadr City provided a potentially life-saving tip to the Iraqi army on Nov. 26, alerting them to what appeared to be a bomb placed in the road.

The Iraqi army and soldiers from Task Force Baghdad's 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry, responded and secured the site. Upon investigation, the Iraqi army and Task Force Baghdad team discovered a 122 mm mortar round rigged with a remote detonating device. A U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal team disposed of the bomb.

West of Baghdad, in the Abu Ghraib area, Task Force Baghdad soldiers killed a terrorist trying to set up an improvised explosive device Nov. 26.

Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, spotted the bomber trying to put a 155 mm artillery round, with an attached detonation device, into a pile of trash along the street. The soldiers quickly engaged the individual.

Iraqi army soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Division, secured the area and explosive experts destroyed the bomb.

In the skies over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 52 close-air-support missions on Nov. 28. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities, and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.

Eleven U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. The U.S. Air Force and British Royal Air Force fighter aircraft also performed in a nontraditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Task Force Baghdad and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)

Related Sites:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

U.S. Central Command Air Forces [http://www.centaf.af.mil/]

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