The targets of a 588th Engineer Battalion early morning raid on Jan. 10 in Baqubah, were a father and his six sons suspected of being involved in attacks against the Coalition. The father and three of his sons were captured without incident. A woman was also detained. When the detained woman was searched by a female soldier she was found to have, hidden within her clothing, four hand grenades. Additionally, the soldiers located and confiscated four AK-47 assault rifles, a U.S.-made body armor vest and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) uniforms in the house.
Earlier in the evening on Jan. 10, the 588th Engineer Battalion conducted another raid in north Baqubah and captured two people suspected of being weapons dealers. One of those captured was a local sheik. The soldiers located and confiscated three AK-47 assault rifles, one pistol, one hand grenade and 11 million Iraqi dinars. The soldiers also found a brief case filled with identification cards, including one of the captured individual’s Baath party cards.
In Taji, Iraq, information from an Iraqi citizen about a possible weapons cache brought 5th Engineer Battalion soldiers to a house in Taji during the afternoon of Jan. 10. The soldiers searched the house and found 418 C5M rockets, 260 rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), 250 82-millimeter mortars, 50 57-millimeter mortars, 65 120-millimeter artillery rounds, 15 PG7 anti-tank rounds, 13 cases of 7.62-millimeter ammunition, 30 hand grenades, and 100 rounds of 7.62-millimeter armor piercing ammunition, 2,000 additional rounds of automatic weapon ammunition, 30 grenades and four rifles. The site was also used as an improvised explosive device (IED) factory. Soldiers found nine 155-millimeter artillery rounds that were configured as IEDs, as well as a bag of black powder with a time fuse attached. Additional IED-making material confiscated included five command detonation systems, four remote detonation systems, four blasting caps, several feet of time fuse cord, several feet of detonation cord, four push button switches used in the production of IEDs and 16 crates of plastic explosives. Two individuals in the house were detained.
| Cripes. How the two individuals fit in the house with all that ordnance? I sure as hell hope they were non-smokers... |
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