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WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 42 members of Iranian-backed “special groups,” detained eight terrorism suspects, and seized weapons in Iraq over the past four days, military officials said. During operations in northeastern Baghdad yesterday: -- Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers manning a checkpoint retaliated against a large group that attacked them around 6:35 p.m. with small-arms fire. The U.S. component of the combined force used 120 mm fire from M1A12 Abrams tanks and small-arms fire, killing 22 attackers and forcing the rest to flee. No U.S. or Iraqi soldiers were harmed or killed. --...

Click the image to view the slideshow several caches of Iranian-made weapons seized in February and March. Images courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq. Clashes between the Mahdi Army and US and Iraqi forces continue in northern and eastern Baghdad over the weekend despite a call by Muqtada al Sadr for his fighters to cease attacks. US air weapons team killed seven Mahdi Army fighters in Sadr City on Saturday and early Sunday morning while the Mahdi Army attacked a police patrol in the Sha'ab neighborhood and launched mortars at the International Zone. Meanwhile, an Iraqi general has said Iran...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — Knocking on doors; greeting the family; talking about politics, the neighbors or just the weather over a hot cup of overly sweet chai – a pleasant side of operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers who have operated in the southeastern Rashid District for the past eight months. For Soldiers of “Fox,” Company F, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, interpersonal relations, consensus information and the pictures they create are the biggest contributors to the safety and security of the citizens living in the...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 22 suspected terrorists, captured 37 others, and seized weapons caches in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. During operations today: -- An air weapons team fired a Hellfire missile at four criminals as they attempted to emplace an improvised explosive device in northeastern Baghdad around 1 a.m. The missile killed all four and destroyed the IED. -- A separate AWT witnessed two criminals setting up a firing position in northeastern Baghdad at about 1:30 a.m. The AWT engaged with one Hellfire missile and killed one criminal; the...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi National Police from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, working in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad, seized a weapons cache and detained a suspected criminal during a security patrol April 20. Conducting simultaneous raids at two different sites, 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP Div. officers captured two heavy machine guns with 1,800 rounds, a sniper rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and detained a suspected criminal operating in the Risalah neighborhood of West Rashid. Iraqi Security Forces such as the 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP conduct daily patrols and security operations for...

Freedom Journal Iraq - News video Very professional news report by the Multi-National Force Iraq of frontline scenes of the mission of our awesome troops and the Iraqi police and Army forces, posted on April 17, 2008.

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2008 – Recent operations in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood are part of the overall Baghdad security plan and necessary to rebuilding in the area, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters yesterday. “The Baghdad security plan is to come in and create security in Baghdad, and as the neighborhoods become safe, then we can bring in other services,” Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said in Baghdad. “In the southern part of Sadr City, they’re establishing that -- an area of security.” Specifically, coalition and Iraqi forces conducted Sadr City operations to facilitate the delivery of day-to-day essentials...

An Iraqi soldier with the 1st Iraqi Army examines one of more than 160 mortars found during Operation Charge of the Knights in Basra April 19. Some of the markings on the weapons indicate a manufacturing date in 2007. U.S. Army photo. BASRA — The Iraqi Army discovered a large weapons and munitions cache in a house located in the Al Hyyaniyah area of Basra April 19. Soldiers from the 1st Iraqi Army discovered the cache during the search phase of Operation Charge of the Knights. The cache consisted of a large number of weaponry with Iranian markings. The cache...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured a suspected Iranian-trained Special Groups commander and three other suspected criminals Sunday during operations in the Kadamiyah district of Baghdad.The targeted individual allegedly conducted attacks against Iraqi security and Coalition forces and was involved in extra-judicial killings in Baghdad. Reports also indicate the wanted individual was an associate of several senior-level criminal element leaders involved in attacks on Coalition forces. Intelligence led Coalition forces to the targeted individual’s location. En route, Coalition forces came under attack by small arms fire from unknown assailants. After arriving at the targeted individual’s location, Coalition forces came under...

BALAD, Iraq – A combined force of more than 300 Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, advised by U.S. Special Operations Forces, arrested 40 criminal militia members after coming under attack in Suq Ash Shuyukh, southeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq, April 19. Forty criminal militia members were killed during the armed confrontation with ISF, including the group’s top two leaders. Twelve ISF members were reported wounded. Using assault rifles and automatic weapons, the criminal militia attacked Iraqi Security Forces on the morning of April 19. Regional police and Army forces on alert in the area responded...

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed or captured dozens of terrorists and criminal militia members during multiple engagements in Iraq yesterday, military officials said. In Suq Ash Shuyukh, southeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq, a combined force of more than 300 Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, advised by U.S. Special Operations Forces, killed 40 criminal militia members and arrested an additional 40 after the Iraqi forces were attacked by the militia members. Using assault rifles and automatic weapons, the criminal militia attacked Iraqi Security Forces in the morning. Regional police and Army...

BAGHDAD – A Multi-National Division – Baghdad aerial weapons teams killed seven criminals and Soldiers seized weapons in separate incidents in eastern Baghdad April 19. The AWT engaged the criminals with a Hellfire missile and killed both criminals transporting weapons at approximately 6:30 p.m. in the Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad. The AWT also destroyed two machine guns with the attack. At approximately 8:27 p.m., Coalition forces were attacked by criminals with small-arms fire. They returned fire killing one. At approximately 8:39 p.m., in another section of the Sadr City district, Coalition forces engaged attacking criminals, killing one. At...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured a suspected Iranian-trained Special Groups commander and three other suspected criminals Sunday during operations in the Kadamiyah district of Baghdad. The targeted individual allegedly conducted attacks against Iraqi security and Coalition forces and was involved in extra-judicial killings in Baghdad. Reports also indicate the wanted individual was an associate of several senior-level criminal element leaders involved in attacks on Coalition forces. Intelligence led Coalition forces to the targeted individual’s location. En route, Coalition forces came under attack by small arms fire from unknown assailants. After arriving at the targeted individual’s location, Coalition forces came...

The Iraqi Army, backed by Coalition advisers and airpower, has launched an assault on the Mahdi Army-controlled neighborhood of Hayaniyah in the port city of Basrah, sparking heavy fighting. Multinational Forces Iraq described the action as "a new phase of operations" as part of the overall operation, called Knights' Charge, which was launched on March 25. The fighting in Basrah is said to be intense. The assault began at 6 AM local time when "British artillery and US aircraft released ordnance against known criminal rocket and mortar sites west of Hayaniyah," the Multinational Forces Iraq press release stated. "There were...

BAGHDAD - Iran's ambassador to Iraq on Saturday denounced U.S. military operations in Baghdad's Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, saying they had led to the deaths of innocent people and threatened to aggravate an already tense situation. The comments by Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi came after police and hospital officials reported that 12 people had died in overnight clashes in Sadr City. U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by air power have largely blocked off the southern section of the sprawling district in a bid to prevent Shiite militia fighters led by the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr...

Iraqi troops have cordoned off the Basra office of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's followers, preventing them from holding Friday prayers. Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the operation is only aimed at recovering offices he said were unfairly occupied by political groups. Sadr supporters say they have been given 48 hours to leave the premises. There were no immediate reports of fighting between Iraqi troops and Sadr followers.

CAMP VICTORY — Multi-National Division – Center kicked off the main phase of its first major operation devoted primarily to capacity building – expanding governance, economics and infrastructure – April 15 in communities south of Baghdad in the Baghdad Province. Operation Marne Piledriver is taking place in the area of operations of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). While the focus of the operation is on capacity building, Iraqi Security Forces will simultaneously target remaining insurgent pockets with the help of Coalition forces. Patrol Base Yates, which will house Iraqi and Coalition forces, is currently under construction...

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2008 – Iraqi security forces are continuing to lead operations against insurgents in Basra and Baghdad and have made significant progress toward establishing security, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said yesterday. Speaking to reporters in Iraq, Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, detailed recent operations, including those in the southern city of Basra, where Iraqi and coalition forces have been conducting increased operations since March. “In Basra this week, Iraqi security forces continued operations against illegally armed gangs, intimidation and extortion groups, and other criminals,” Driscoll said. “Although there still is much work...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers, in a combined operation with Iraqi Army soldiers, killed several criminals in eastern Baghdad after their convoy was attacked by multiple road side bombs, and small-arms fire from adjacent high rise buildings April 11.At approximately 9 p.m., soldiers from 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division soldiers, supporting Iraqi Army soldiers from the 42nd Brigade, 11th IA Div., killed two criminal snipers, two criminals firing rocket propelled grenades, and multiple others from a nearby building where soldiers were taking RPG and machine gun fire.At the same...

TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Soldiers discovered three weapon caches of various munitions and explosives northeast of Kirkuk, April 10. The caches included 60mm Chinese mortars, 82mm Chinese mortars, 57mm Chinese projectiles, 120mm Chinese mortar high explosives, 60mm Iraqi mortars, more than 50 85mm Iraqi rocket motors, 105mm Iraqi projectiles, 40mm projected fuses, 130 Russian projectiles, Russian fuses and an 85mm Russian projectile. The explosives and weapons were likely to be used against Coalition forces, Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi citizens. This is the third large cache found in this area within a week. The cache was in an area previously...