Coalition Forces killed two terrorists and detained 29-suspected terrorists during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq and its foreign fighter network Friday.Two coordinated operations in Mosul targeted a Kurdish extremist known for helping al-Qaeda in Iraq facilitate foreign fighters and conduct financial and media operations. Coalition Forces entered the first targeted building, isolated the women and children and moved further into the house. While maneuvering through the target building, an armed man engaged the ground force with small arms fire, endangering the force and the innocent family members. Coalition Forces defended themselves and the women and children by killing the armed terrorist.
Coalition Forces identified the terrorist as part of the al-Qaeda in Iraq network that recruited and transported foreign fighters into Iraq for participation in suicide bombings and other terrorist activities. Coalition Forces detained seven suspected terrorists during the raids for their alleged involvement in the network as well.
In Baghdad, Coalition Forces conducted an operation to capture an al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader in the area. As Coalition Forces entered the building, a man continuously made hostile attempts to evade the ground forces and ignored the translatorÂ’s instructions to comply with the ForcesÂ’ orders. Reacting appropriately to the perceived hostile threat, Coalition Forces engaged the man, killing him.
Inside the building, Coalition Forces detained 10-suspected terrorists, including two who have alleged close ties to al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders. Coalition Forces also destroyed a vehicle used in transporting weapons and personnel for terrorist activity.
West of Tarmiyah, Coalition Forces targeted an individual suspected of facilitating the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq. The ground force captured the individual and three more suspected terrorists allegedly tied to the al-Qaeda in Iraq foreign fighter network.
Coalition Forces raided a building northeast of Habbaniyah in search of an al-Qaeda senior leader there. The ground force detained eight suspected terrorists for their alleged involvement with the senior leader. “Al-Qaeda in Iraq members continue to threaten the safety of Iraqis with indiscriminant violence, even deliberately endangering their own family members,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. “Al-Qaeda’s operatives, many of them foreigners to Iraq, do not represent the will or the desires of the Iraq people.”