THE TENSION: Forces in Iraq Kill 13 Enemy Fighters, Nab 14

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi troops killed 13 enemy fighters and captured 14 others during recent operations, military officials said.

In operations today:

Coalition forces killed an al-Qaida in Iraq weapons dealer and detained another man near Tikrit. Perceiving hostile intent after the man made threatening movements toward them, coalition forces shot and killed him. The man was identified as the targeted weapons dealer, who was involved in a Tigris River Valley bomb-making network, officials said.

An operation south of Sinjar netted an individual reportedly involved in bombings and an illegal terrorist court system in Ninevah province. Military officials said the wanted man tested positive for explosives residue. An additional suspect was detained.

Coalition forces captured two more alleged bombing-network operatives and three additional suspects near Beiji. Officials said one of the men confessed to killing three Americans and emplacing roadside bombs in the area and that the other was involved in bombing networks in the Tigris River Valley and Mosul.

While coalition forces were targeting a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader in Tarmiyah, military officials said, a group of men approached them. The coalition forces identified themselves, and all but one man in the group turned away. Perceiving hostile intent, the coalition forces shot and killed him. One of the captured men is believed to coordinate attacks against coalition forces, officials said. The other allegedly provides falsified documents for foreign terrorists. Two additional suspected terrorists were detained.

Iraqi and coalition forces captured a wanted man and two other suspected terrorists who are allegedly tied to al-Qaida leaders in Kirkuk. Farther south, the force detained an alleged foreign-terrorist facilitator with ties to a suicide-bombing network in Abu Ghraib, military officials said.

In operations yesterday:

Members of a “Sons of Iraq” citizen security group killed nine enemy fighters during a firefight at a checkpoint near Owja, south of Tikrit. Members of the group were attacked when a fuel truck approached the checkpoint and engaged the guards with small-arms fire. The driver then got out and detonated a suicide vest. The remaining enemy fighters continued to target the security group, and Iraqi army soldiers and police responded to the firefight, eliminating the threat, officials said.

Acting on a tip from local citizens, Iraqi soldiers found a large weapons cache near the Rega area of Salahuddin province. The cache contained various sizes of rounds commonly used to manufacture homemade bombs.

In separate operations, Iraqi army soldiers discovered six homemade bombs and a weapons cache containing rocket-propelled grenades in northern Baghdad.

In operations May 28, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers killed two enemy fighters who were armed with rocket-propelled-grenade launchers. They also seized grenades, RPGs and various other bomb-making materials during operations in Baghdad.