THE TENSION: OIF Summary; Oct. 31, 2008: Troops in Iraq Kill Terrorist Leader, Nab Suspects

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2008 -- Coalition forces in Iraq killed a terrorist leader and captured 10 suspects today and yesterday in their ongoing effort to break up terrorist groups across the country, military officials said.

In one of the captures, coalition troops nabbed a key member of the Iranian-sponsored Asaib Ahl al-Haq terrorist network today in the New Baghdad area of the capital city, officials said.

Acting on intelligence information, troops targeted the man believed responsible for financing militant operations against Iraqi and coalition forces. The troops moved in on the wanted man's location where he identified himself to them. He and an associate were apprehended without incident.

The coalition continued to derail al-Qaida in Iraq's car- and roadside-bomb networks, killing one man and detaining nine suspects in the past two days, officials said.

In Mosul yesterday, troops targeted an alleged bomb facilitator. When forces entered the building believed to house the suspect, a man engaged them with a pistol, officials said, and coalition forces killed him in self-defense. Three suspects were detained during the operation.

A man believed to be a regional al-Qaida in Iraq leader, whose operatives conducted roadside-bomb and rocket attacks against coalition forces, was captured today near Tikrit, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, officials said. During the operation, forces discovered multiple mortar rounds, explosive materials, trigger devices and other supplies. The suspected terrorist and four men believed to be his associates were detained, they said.

Forces operating in Sulayman Bak, about 52 miles southeast of Mosul, captured a man believed to be a bomb facilitator, officials said.

This week’s captures are the latest in ongoing efforts to break up bomb networks in the country. This month alone, coalition forces apprehended 39 Iranian-sponsored militants and seized nearly $500,000 for support of terrorism in Iraq, officials said.

Also in Iraq this week:

Coalition soldiers detained two suspected terrorists Oct. 29 and yesterday in southern Baghdad's Rashid district.

Residents’ tips Oct. 29 led Iraqi National Police and coalition soldiers to weapons caches in Baghdad that included a 122 mm artillery round and a 120 mm mortar round in the West Rashid district.