Troops in Iraq Capture Suspects, Seize Weapons

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces caught dozens of suspects and seized weapons caches in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.

During operations in Iraq today:

• Coalition troops detained 11 suspects in Mosul, including an alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. Intelligence reports indicate the suspected leader uses a local mosque to recruit extremists, collect money to finance terrorism, and store weapons for attacks against coalition forces, military officials said.

• Troops caught four suspects while targeting foreign terrorist associates in Biaj, about 80 miles southwest of Mosul. Also south of Mosul, coalition forces in Beiji detained three suspected terrorists who military officials suspect of hiding foreign terrorists and weapons in the area.

• Coalition troops in Baghdad captured five suspects, one of whom is the suspected leader of an al-Qaida in Iraq network that operates within the Iraqi capital. In a separate operation in the West Rashid area of Baghdad, troops captured two suspects believed to be associated with Iranian-backed “Special Groups.”

• Coalition forces in Salman Pak caught two people who are suspected members of the Rusafa car-bombing network, which is known to attack Iraqi civilians and security forces, military officials said.

In the Diyala River Valley area yesterday, Iraqi special operations forces captured two suspected al-Qaida in Iraq network members. The suspects are believed to have recruited and trained female suicide bombers in the city’s Old Baqouba neighborhood.

Elsewhere in Iraq yesterday, combined forces seized three weapons caches in Baghdad. The stockpiles included mortar rounds of various sizes, grenades, rockets and other weaponry.

A day earlier near Muqdadiya, Iraqi special operations forces arrested four other suspected al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists on a Ministry of Justice warrant.

Meanwhile in the Diyala River Valley area Aug. 5, the Baghdad National Emergency Response Brigade captured two cell members from the Islamic State of Iraq, a front organization for the foreign-led al-Qaida in Iraq, military officials said.

In the Iraqi capital Aug. 5, soldiers from the Iraqi army and Multinational Division Baghdad seized weapons caches that included various grenades and sniper rifles.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

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