OIF Update, April 3, 2009: Troops Strike Roadside Bombers in Iraq

Dispatches from the Front:

BAGHDAD, April 3, 2009 -- A Multinational Division Baghdad air weapons team engaged four armed men who were spotted planting a roadside bomb north of Taji, Iraq, last night, military officials reported.

The attack left one of the would-be bombers dead and wounded two others.

The men, believed to be members of the “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group, were seen emplacing an object in the road, near a critical road junction, with lookouts posted several meters away. The largely rural area north of Baghdad has been the scene of several attacks in the past few months, officials said.

A quick-reaction force from 56th Striker Brigade Combat Team moved to the scene after the strike and found one of the men dead. Two others were found wounded in a nearby empty house, and four assault rifles were recovered. The fourth man was not found.

Coalition soldiers provided first aid to the wounded men and medical evacuation under guard for further treatment at a coalition forces medical facility. They turned the body of the man killed over to local authorities for identification.

Initial investigation revealed that at least one of the men had served in the Sons of Iraq program, officials said.

"Hostile acts will be engaged,” Army Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger, Multinational Division Baghdad commander, said. “While we value our Sons of Iraq brothers, these men had broken faith with their fellow Sons of Iraq, the Iraqi people and us."

The two wounded men will be taken into custody, pending investigation by Iraqi police, officials said.

(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)

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