OIF Summary, Dec. 18, 2009: Forces in Iraq Target Assassination Cell

Dispatches from the Front:

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18, 2009 -- Iraqi security forces arrested two suspected members of an al-Qaida in Iraq cell responsible for making bombs and attacking government officials during a combined security operation today in western Baghdad.

Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched a building for a suspected terrorist who allegedly is part of a cell that manufactures magnetic bombs and attaches them to vehicles to kill government officials and those who oppose al-Qaida in Iraq. The security team found a fully assembled bomb, several bomb components and a weapon equipped with a suppressor.

Following a preliminary examination of the evidence at the scene, Iraqi forces arrested two suspected criminal associates of the warranted al-Qaida in Iraq member without incident.

(From a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)