American Forces Press Service



WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2005  - Iraqi and U.S. forces continued to make progress in the fight against terrorism in the north-central region of Iraq, detaining suspects and netting weapons and ammunition, officials in Iraq reported today.



Raids and patrols throughout the area Dec. 8 resulted in the detention of 22 suspected terrorists and the discovery of four weapons caches, officials said.



In an early morning raid near Duluiyah, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, captured seven suspected terrorists. The men were wanted for staging roadside bomb and mortar attacks against coalition forces in the area.



Iraqi troops from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, working with U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, detained five suspects in Mansuriyah al Jabal, a village near the city of Muqdadiyah.



In addition, Iraqi Ministry of the Interior troops and U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st BCT detained five other suspects following a combined raid near Samarra, officials reported.



A 1st BCT patrol discovered the biggest cache of the day, west of Balad. An explosives ordnance disposal team destroyed more than 100 hand grenades, 45 pounds of gunpowder, 2 pounds of plastic explosives, a preassembled roadside bomb and various other items, officials said. Three suspected terrorists were detained at the site.



Two other caches found in the same area yielded 23 mortar rounds, 300 artillery fuses, four blocks of plastic explosives, a mortar tube and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Explosive ordnance disposal teams destroyed both caches.



Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, discovered another cache in the village of Haroniyah near Muqdadiyah. The cache contained nine mortar rounds that had been converted into improvised explosive devices and four RPG launchers. Two men were detained in connection with the weapons, officials said.



In other developments, officials announced Dec. 8 that a Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action Dec. 7. The Marine's vehicle was attacked with an IED during combat operations against the enemy in Ramadi. Officials are withholding the Marine's name until the family is notified.



Also on Dec. 8, Iraqi soldiers and police, along with U.S. troops, successfully conducted two separate operations near Baqubah that resulted in the capture of 14 suspected terrorists, officials said.



Operation Bulldawg Chariot, a joint mission with soldiers from Iraq's 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Army Division, and U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd BCT netted four suspected terrorists.



A tip from an Iraqi civilian led to the operation to nab suspected terrorists who were harassing, threatening and intimidating local Iraqi civilian construction workers who are building a new prison facility, officials said.



In Khadasia, northwest of Tikrit, Operation Able Rising Force unfolded with 10 suspected terrorists captured, including three who are wanted for IED attacks against local civilians and military. Iraqi soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, Iraqi police from the area and soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st BCT, participated.



Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, detained two men after discovering a large cache of weapons and munitions Dec. 8 in the village of Haroniyah, northeast of Muqdadiyah.



The cache consisted of nine 60 mm mortars configured to be used as roadside bombs, four rocket-propelled grenade launchers, an antitank weapon known as a SPG-9 with one round and a television remote control. The suspects were held for further investigation.



Elsewhere the same day, soldiers with the 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, unearthed two caches buried near Balad in Salah Ad Din province. The find included 16 60 mm rounds, 16 artillery fuses and a technical manual for computers. Explosive ordnance disposal experts handled the scene.



And a car bomb exploded in Tikrit shortly after Iraqi police discovered it Dec. 8. Coalition forces, ambulances and fire trucks were called in to assist the police in establishing an initial cordon when the bomb, contained in a green minivan, exploded. No injuries or damages were reported.



Earlier this week, two insurgents attacked a patrol from the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team.



The terrorists engaged the U.S. patrol with small-arms fire in the Dec. 6 incident before driving away in their white sedan, officials said.



The patrol pursued the vehicle and detained both suspects, officials said. While searching the vehicle, the soldiers found $5,000 in U.S. cash, two pistols, cell phones and ammunition.



Coalition aircraft flew 34 close-air-support missions Dec. 8 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and a U.S. Air Force Predator struck an enemy improvised explosive device location near Rawah.



Ten U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. Royal Air Force fighter aircraft performed in a nontraditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.



(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq , Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, Task Force Baghdad and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)