SOME GOOD NEWS TO START THE WEEK

Iraqi boy leads troops to weapons cache
Monday, 17 September 2007

BAGHDAD — A Multi-National Division-Baghdad unit discovered a cache of explosives and improvised explosive device-making materials in a western neighborhood of the Iraqi capital following a tip from a local boy Sept. 15.

A platoon from Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment (Task Force Patriot), was conducting a census operation in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Yarmouk when an 11-year-old Iraqi boy pointed out an abandoned house and suggested that insurgents had used it as a base of operations in previous months.

The Soldiers discovered two cache sites within the house after a detailed search. The contents of the two caches included four RPG-7 rockets, nine 57mm rockets, two 82mm mortars, one 130mm artillery round, one 122mm artillery round, one block of TNT, a foot of detonation cord, 52 AK-47 magazines and an assortment of IED-detonating devices.
An explosive ordnance disposal team responded to the scene and removed the explosives for detonation later in a controlled environment.

“We’re encouraged by the fact that a tip from an Iraqi child led us to this cache,” said Capt. Jayson Morgan, commander of Battery B and a Munday, Texas native. “It’s just another sign that our efforts in this community are paying dividends.”

Morgan said he will return to the neighborhood later this week to pay the family of the young boy a reward for providing such valuable information.

Coalition forces capture 12 suspected terrorists in Baghdad
Monday, 17 September 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured an Iraqi terrorist with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps - Quds Forces (IRGC-QF) and eleven other suspected terrorists during coordinated early morning operations in Baghdad Monday.

The operations targeted a senior Special Groups leader directly linked, according to sensitive intelligence, to several other high-ranking terrorists operating in and around Baghdad.
Those in custody are believed to be involved in smuggling and storing weapons from Iran used to attack Iraqi civilians and the security forces that protect them. Intelligence further indicates that the group is linked to the production and distribution of deadly Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) and the supporting of foreign terrorist operations.

Coalition forces detained six individuals at the first target area without incident, and followed on with operations at two other sites where they captured the other individuals.

A vehicle approached the security perimeter of the ground force during the operation. The vehicle, which was out after curfew, was warned with lights and warning shots before Coalition forces engaged the hostile threat with machine gun fire and destroyed it. The ground forces assess the driver was killed.

“The capture of key Special Groups leaders will allow us to further disrupt the activities of those who attempt to undermine the security and stability of Iraq,” said Maj. Winfield Danielson, MNF-I spokesman