THE TENSION: Forces in Iraq Kill 10, Nab 11

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 10 enemy fighters, captured 11 suspects, and uncovered scores of weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.

In two-day operations that culminated today, coalition forces detained 11 suspected al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists, including two wanted men.

One of the wanted men allegedly conducted bombing attacks against Iraqi security forces and the other is believed to be a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader in Salahuddin and Anbar provinces, military officials said.

“We will continue to put pressure on al-Qaida in Iraq together with the Iraqi security forces to protect innocent citizens from these terrorists,” said Army Maj. John Hall, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.

In Iraq yesterday:

Coalition forces killed 10 members of Iranian-backed “special groups” in the Fedaliyah neighborhood of eastern Baghdad’s New Baghdad district. Troops engaged the weapon-wielding militants after observing them emplace homemade bombs.

Troops captured a key suspected special groups financier in Mahmudiyah, about 10 miles south of the Iraqi capital. Military officials believe the suspect is the primary financier between Iranian intelligence elements and special groups operatives from Mahmudiyah to southern Baghdad.

Coalition and Iraqi forces found weapons caches in the following areas: northwest of Baghdad, and in the Aamel, Rashid, West Rashid and Mansour districts of the Iraqi capital. The stockpiles totaled dozens of mortar rounds, rockets, bomb-making materials, homemade explosives, assault rifles and ammunition, and other military equipment.

During two separate operations May 27, coalition and Iraqi forces discovered hidden lodes of illegal weapons. A find in the Saydiyah district of southern Baghdad yielded weaponry and ammunition of various sizes, and a local citizens group in Arab Jabour uncovered a 200-pound bomb.

“The more bombs we get off the battlefield the better,” Army 1st Lt. Jeno Giorgi, a military spokesman, said of the bomb discovered in the Arab Jabour farm field. “It's one less coalition force or Iraqi casualty.”