THE TENSION: Troops in Iraq Nab 14 Suspects

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces caught 14 suspects and seized weapons caches in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.

Troops detained nine suspected terrorists, including three wanted men, today during operations in Iraq targeting al-Qaida in Iraq's financial and foreign-terrorist networks.

In those operations:

Coalition forces in Hit, about 90 miles west of Baghdad, captured a man allegedly working with al-Qaida in Iraq to bring foreign terrorists into the country.

Coalition troops caught a wanted man and an additional suspect in Karmah. The wanted man is believed to conspire with longtime al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists in the northern belts around Baghdad, where troops detained another suspect in a separate operation.

Forces captured a man in Mosul believed to be involved in criminal plots to finance al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist attacks. The wanted man was detained with one other suspect.

Coalition forces near Tikrit, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, targeted al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists who reportedly were planning to conduct attacks with poisons. Troops detained three suspects in the raid.

In the New Baghdad security district of eastern Baghdad, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained a key suspect yesterday, military officials said. Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team detained the suspect during a mission in the Kamaliyah area of the Iraqi capital. The suspect allegedly has planted roadside bombs, conducted indirect-fire attacks in the area, and provided finances for bombing activities.

Also in New Baghdad yesterday, the 4th Brigade Combat Team confiscated more than a dozen assault rifles during clearance operations in the eastern Baghdad district.

During operations July 15:

Combined forces in the Sadr City district of Baghdad detained an Iranian-backed “special groups” member with an arrest warrant issued by Iraq’s Interior Ministry. The individual has attacked and killed Iraqi security and coalition forces with homemade and small-arms fire, military officials said.

In the Jisr Diyala neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad, Iraqi special operations forces detained a suspected leader of an Iranian-backed bombing cell. The suspect allegedly is responsible for weapons trafficking, homemade bombings and an assassination plot against an Iraqi general officer.

Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained a known leader of an Iranian-backed militant group during Operation Raider Nor'easter in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The suspect allegedly has used homemade bombs in the area, military officials said.

Iraqi special operations forces detained a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq leader in Fallujah. The suspect, detained on a, Iraqi Justice Ministry warrant, reportedly is in charge of three al-Qaida unit commanders who that oversee some 200 terrorists.

Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers seized weapons caches around the Iraqi capital. The stockpiles included artillery and mortar rounds, machine guns, pistols, rockets, explosive materials, fuses and other military equipment.

Members of a local “Sons of Iraq” citizen security group led coalition forces to a weapons cache west of Samarra in Salahuddin province. The cache contained mortar and artillery rounds and small-arms munitions.