OIF Summary; Dec. 26, 2008: Troops Seize Rocket-Delivery System in Baghdad Raid

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 2008 -- American and Iraqi security forces found and seized a rocket-rail system during a combined operation conducted in Baghdad’s Rashid district Dec. 25.

U.S. 4th Infantry Division soldiers and Iraqi police discovered the rocket-delivery system while performing a security sweep in the district’s Abu T’shir community, a U.S. military official said.

“Combined operations account for many significant finds in the Rashid district,” said Army Maj. Dave Olson, a spokesman for the division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team. “The 1st ‘Raider’ Brigade continues to teach, coach and mentor the ISF as they provide a safe and secure environment for the people.”

In Dec. 22 operations:

• Iraqi soldiers arrested two suspected terrorists in Baghdad. One of the detainees is a former major general who’d served in Saddam Hussein’s regime. He is linked to the financing of several terrorist and criminal groups.

• An Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics team arrested three alleged terrorists during an operation in Hit.

In other news, an Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics team from Mosul arrested a suspected terrorist during an operation conducted in Hay Hathel Village Dec. 21. The detainee is accused of making improvised explosive devices and facilitating their placement in and around Mosul.

Iraqi Special Operations soldiers captured two men in Salman Pak Dec. 20. These men allegedly facilitated the movement of weapons into Abu Ghraib and were involved in house bombings in the area. During another operation conducted in Hashimiya that day, an Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics team from Hillah arrested three suspected criminals.

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

Tags: DOD, War, Military, GWOT, terrorism, al Qaeda, al Qaida, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF, United States, U.S., coalition, Iraq, Dispatches from the Front, Multinational Force
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension