THE TENSION: Troops in Iraq Kill Militants, Detain 20, Find Weapons

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces killed three militants, detained 20 suspects and found weapons in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.

During operations today:

Coalition forces killed two enemy fighters, including an al-Qaida in Iraq cell leader, near Sharqat, about 55 miles south of Mosul. Military officials said forces engaged the men after perceiving them as a “hostile threat.” The slain enemies later were found to have been armed with guns and grenades. Troops detained three suspects in the operation.

Coalition troops followed an alleged associate of al-Qaida in Iraq senior leaders to a remote area west of Sinjar, where they captured him and four other suspects. Troops used information gleaned in a May 11 operation to track the primary suspect, military officials said.

Coalition forces captured two Egyptian men who military officials believe are linked to suicide bombings west of Baghdad in Abu Ghraib. In a separate operation in the area, forces captured a man wanted for providing weapons and suicide vests to al-Qaida in Iraq foreign terrorists.

Troops nabbed two suspects bear Biaj, about 80 miles southwest of Mosul. One detainee is wanted for his alleged ties to senior leaders of a network that assists foreign terrorists.

Forces in Mosul captured a suspected mid-level al-Qaida in Iraq leader believed to be associated with car bombings and other attacks. They detained an additional suspect during an operation targeting Mosul's terrorist propaganda network.

Iraqi soldiers yesterday seized numerous weapons caches in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. The soldiers uncovered mortar rounds, mines, rocket-propelled grenades and other military equipment.

During June 24 operations:

Coalition forces conducted an air strike northeast of Tikrit that killed one suspected al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist. Military officials said ground forces called in the strike as a self-defense measure. Four women in a nearby building suffered minor injuries.

Coalition troops captured a suspected senior leader of an Iranian-backed “special group” and three of the leader’s associates in Ash Shumali, about 70 miles south of Baghdad. At the scene, forces discovered numerous assault rifles and handguns, and a vehicle that tested positive for explosives, military officials said.

Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained the leader of a roadside bombing cell in southern Baghdad’s Rashid district. Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, caught the suspect near Forward Operating Base Falcon, Baghdad.

Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers found nine makeshift rockets in the bed of a vehicle in Baghdad’s Kadamiyah district. A local Iraqi tipped off soldiers to the weapon system’s whereabouts, military officials said.