Troops in Iraq Kill Bomb-Attack Suspect

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2008 -- Coalition forces today killed a terrorist insurgent suspected of leading al-Qaida in Iraq bomb attacks throughout the Tigris River Valley, according to military reports.

The wanted man was among seven killed in operations in the Tikrit area, military officials said.

Intelligence reports led coalition forces to a building in Dawr, a town northwest of Baghdad, where they found the suspect and others. The targeted suspect allegedly worked for the al-Qaida in Iraq leader of Diyala, who was detained by coalition forces on Sept. 2. He is believed to be the improvised explosive device mastermind in the Muqdadiyah area, where more than 25 IED incidents have caused 38 casualties since Aug. 1, officials said.

Forces surrounded the building and called for its occupants to surrender. Despite nearly an hour of multiple calls and warnings that the force would engage them, the individuals refused to come out, officials said. An armed man appeared in the doorway, and coalition forces, perceiving hostile intent, engaged him. Later, he was determined to be the suspected terrorist, officials said.

During the operation supporting aircraft engaged and killed three additional terrorism suspects. Three women also were killed, and an Iraqi child was rescued from the rubble by coalition forces and was taken to a nearby base, where he is receiving medical treatment. Coalition officials said the air strike was conducted in accordance with applicable rules.

Surveillance teams observed two other people running from the building and taking shelter in a neighboring mosque. Coalition forces called for support from Iraqi forces, who aided by entering the mosque and apprehending one suspect, officials said.

"Sadly, this incident again shows that the [al-Qaida in Iraq] terrorists repeatedly risk the lives of innocent women and children to further their evil work," Army Col. Jerry O'Hara, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said.

Also in Iraq today:

• In Mosul, troops captured a suspected terrorist associated with an alleged financier who is believed to facilitate the movement of foreign terrorists into Iraq to conduct attacks against civilians and security forces. One additional suspect was detained as well.

• Near Samarra, north of Baghdad, a suspected terrorist with ties to regional al-Qaida leadership was captured, along with an additional suspect.

• Coalition forces operating in Baghdad’s Khadamiyah neighborhood captured three wanted men and one additional suspect who are believed to conspire with a longtime terrorist leader.

• Six suspects were detained in connection with an IED attack against an Iraqi National Police patrol in northern Baghdad. A national policeman was killed in the attack earlier in the day, and two were wounded.

Also this week, Iraqi and coalition forces seized weapons caches in and around Baghdad, mostly based on citizens’ tips, officials said. The munitions included an Iranian-manufactured 85 mm PG7 rocket, a Russian-manufactured 85 mm PG7 rocket, a 122 mm Russian rocket, 150 rounds of 14.5 mm ammunition, a heavy-machine-gun barrel, rocket propellant, 60 and 81 mm mortar rounds and tubes, rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, bombs designed to pierce armor-hulled vehicles, blasting caps and Molotov cocktails.

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

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