THE TENSION: Troops Nab Terror Suspects in Iraq’s Hamrin Mountains

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 -- Coalition forces detained eight suspected terrorists yesterday and today as they continued to run down the al-Qaida in Iraq network, especially in the Hamrin Mountains region, where they detained four wanted men, military officials reported.

One of the wanted men, captured yesterday near Qara Tappa with one alleged associate, is believed to be a senior advisor for al-Qaida in Iraq operations around the Hamrin Mountains. Three other wanted men in the region were captured in an operation today, along with one additional suspect.

One of the wanted men allegedly operates an attack cell that also provides security for terrorist operations, officials said. Two others reportedly are involved in smuggling, attacks on coalition forces and facilitating female suicide bombers.

South of Baghdad near Mahmudiyah, a man already in coalition custody turned in an alleged associate of a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader today. The alleged associate and one other suspected terrorist were detained in the operation.

Coalition forces killed an enemy fighter in Tikrit during a daytime operation yesterday targeting associates of al-Qaida leaders in central Iraq.

Coalition forces targeted a facilitator involved with providing bomb triggers for several attack cells in the Tigris River Valley bombing network. As they attempted to apprehend the wanted man, he rushed toward the security element and grabbed one soldier's rifle. Responding to the hostile threat, coalition forces engaged and killed the man.

In other operations yesterday:

Iraqi soldiers seized numerous weapons during a search operation in the Mansour district of Baghdad. The munitions included 100 AK 47 assault rifles, four Seminov rifles, an SKS rifle and four pistols. Later, Iraqi National Police seized three rocket-propelled grenade warheads, five 107 mm rockets and two 122 mm mortar rounds in the New Baghdad area.

A local resident brought six mortar rounds to an entry control point north of Baghdad. Soldiers serving with the 25th Infantry Division’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, called in an explosive ordnance disposal team to assess the munitions. The EOD team identified the munitions as 120 mm high-explosive mortar rounds.

Quick-reaction force soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 153rd Infantry Battalion, found a weapons cache in Baghdad’s West Rashid district. The cache consisted of 24 124 mm rounds without fuses. An EOD team conducted a controlled detonation and destroyed the munitions.