30 Terrorists Killed in Iraq; Weapons Caches Found, Insurgents Captured

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2006 - Iraqi and U.S. soldiers killed about 30 terrorists and detained a high-value target after an attack in Diwaniyah today, U.S. military officials reported.

Iraqi Army soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, supported by Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were conducting a combined combat patrol to detain a high-value target when their patrol was attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Iraqi and coalition soldiers engaged the enemy forces and killed about 30 of the terrorists in the heavily Shiite city of Diwaniya, about 95 miles south of Baghdad.

An M1A2 Abrams Tank was struck by multiple RPG rounds and was severely damaged.

Iraqi and coalition soldiers immediately secured the area so the damaged vehicle could be recovered. While they were securing the area, additional Iraqi Army soldiers continued with their mission and seized the high-value target, who reportedly was involved in the murder of Iraqi soldiers on Aug. 28.

Three other people were also detained, officials said. No Iraqi or coalition forces casualties have been reported.

Elsewhere in Iraq, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team found a large weapons cache in Baghdad's Rusafa district Oct. 5.

The cache contained mortars, mortar charges, 80mm mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, a machinegun, an assault rifle, ammunition and explosives.

In a separate incident, soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained five suspected terrorists and confiscated weapons while conducting combat operations near Saab Al-Bour, northwest of Baghdad, on Oct 5.

While conducting a search of several houses in the area, 1st BCT soldiers found rifles, a machinegun, various ammunition and hand grenades. The suspects were detained for further questioning and an explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the weapons, officials said.

In addition, soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, seized 14 separate caches containing weapons, explosives and propaganda material during a combat operation in southern Baghdad Oct 5.
The unit found the caches while conducting Operation Commando Hunter, which is targeting al Qaeda in the Shakariyah Triangle, southwest of Baghdad, officials said.

Some of the seized weapons included anti-tank mines, a anti-personnel mine, rockets, tools for making makeshift bombs, sticks of dynamite, a rifle, three rifle scopes, partially completed bombs, bulk explosives, fused rockets, 60mm rounds, 82mm rounds, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, rocket-propelled grenade rounds, rifles, machineguns, various bomb-making materials, uniforms, written documents and body armor.

Military officials reported that over the past week in Iraq numerous other coalition operations yielded several additional weapons caches and the capture of multiple suspected insurgents.

(Comprised from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1499]

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