Iran is continuing to supply weapons and personnel to train insurgents in Iraq.

In December, the Pentagon issued a report to Congress titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" stating that Iran is continuing to supply weapons and personnel to train insurgents in Iraq. But now a top U.S. commander in Iraq told The Washington Times that "Iran no longer aids Iraq militants". What is going on? What has changed?
January 3, 2008 : By Sara A. Carter reports that " Iran's leaders are no longer supplying weapons or training to Islamic militants in Iraq ", according to the spokesman for the top U.S. commander in Iraq who told The Washington Times. that Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, sees Iran as following through on assurances it made to Iraqi and U.S. officials last fall not to assist extremists in Iraq, spokesman Col. Steven Boylan said, adding that other U.S. officials have noted declines in Iranian weapons and funds to Iraqi insurgents. "We are ready to confirm the excellence of the senior Iranian leadership in their pledge to stop the funding, training, equipment and resourcing of the militia special groups," Col. Boylan said. "We have seen a downward trend in the signature-type attacks using weapons provided by Iran."
In October, U.S. military officials began noticing a decrease in the supply of Iranian weapons and assistance, Col. Boylan added. The disclosure comes just weeks after a National Intelligence Estimate pruned back its assessment of Iran's nuclear program, saying "with high confidence" that the Islamic republic had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Tehran's aid for Islamic militias in Iraq and its nuclear program have resulted in calls from some in Washington for military action against Iran, and these two developments are likely to dampen such calls. Some outside analysts have argued, though, that Iran-based aid may be getting to Iraqi insurgents without the approval of the government in Tehran. But the colonel cautioned that while Iran's efforts are promising, U.S. military officials remain wary, partly over some contrary events on the ground in Iraq. For example, he disclosed that U.S. troops "recently captured individuals who have been in Iran, training, as short as 45-60 days ago." He did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the captured individuals or the possible investigation. "We are very much in the wait-and-see mode to see what happens," Col. Boylan said. In July, four terrorists linked to an Iranian smuggling operation — responsible for targeting coalition forces with powerful bombs — were captured in Iraq. The confirmation of Iran's cooperation also comes at a time when U.S. military officials have confirmed a 60 percent decrease in violence, including improvised explosive device attacks and civilian deaths in Iraq. Last year, U.S. military officials publicly released evidence of links between Iran and insurgents, including weapons, such as improvised explosive devices and mortars, that bore the markings of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The smuggling of deadly explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) — warhead-style weapons that can pierce armor and that have caused the most casualties and damage to U.S. forces — also was traced back to Iran. In December, the Pentagon issued a report to Congress titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" stating that Iran is continuing to supply weapons and personnel to train insurgents in Iraq. It suggested that the recent declines in violence aren't the result of Iran's claims that it has squelched involvement in Iraq but to other factors, such as the troop surge. "There has been no identified decrease in Iranian training and funding of illegal Shi'a militias in Iraq," the report stated. "Tehran's support for Shi'a militant groups who attack Coalition and Iraq forces remains a significant impediment to progress toward stabilization." Army Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a Pentagon spokesman, said the words from Gen. Petraeus' office on Iran's cutting aid don't contradict the Department of Defense Iraq report, because it was based on information obtained prior to the end of the November deadline. "The report we issued to Congress is meant to be retrospective in nature," Col. Ballesteros said. "It is meant to cover the last 90 days of data and provides a snapshot of that period on the ground." Col. Boylan stated that despite Iran's current cooperation, Islamic radicals and terrorist groups still pose a serious danger to stability in the region.

Rice and Gates Divided over Iran's Role in Iraq : Analysis by Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (IPS) - A State Department official's assertion in late December that Iran had exerted a restraining influence on Iraqi Shiite militia violence signaled a major divergence of views between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates over how to portray Iran's role in Iraq.In an interview with the Washington Post published Dec. 23, David Satterfield, a senior advisor to Rice and coordinator for Iraq, attributed to Iran a deliberate decision to help calm the situation in Iraq rather than to inflame it. Satterfield told the Washington Post that the decline in the number of attacks by Mahdi Army militiamen since August "has to be attributed to an Iranian policy decision" and suggested that the policy decision had been made "at the most senior level". Satterfield did not say that the new Iranian policy line was permanent, but he insisted that there had been such a "consistent and sustained diminution in certain kinds of violence by certain kinds of folks" that it could not be explained solely on the basis of internal factors in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker also told the Post that "the freeze on JAM [the Iraqi acronym for the Mahdi Army] operations that began four months ago would not exist without Iranian approval". Those positive descriptions of the recent Iranian role in Iraq came just after Defence Secretary Gates had refused to endorse such an assessment. At a press conference on Dec. 21, Gates was asked whether he had "seen any additional or more current information to suggest maybe Iran is playing a more constructive role in trying to seal its border from arms shipments and so on?" He replied, "No, not yet." Significantly, however, Gates also passed up the opportunity to say that Iran was playing a "destabilising role" in Iraq. Instead he said simply that the "jury is out" on the issue. Gates mentioned the success of military operations against the Mahdi Army as well as the "ceasefire that has been put in place" as factors in the decline in attacks and said, "[W]e don't have a good feeling...or any confidence in terms of how to weigh these different things." These differing views on whether Iran has been playing a positive role in Iraq are the first clear evidence of a split between Gates and Rice over how to deal with Iran. Rice's State Department is now leaning toward treating Iran as something other than an outright enemy in regard to Iraq, whereas Gates is not ready to soften the administration's position of casting suspicion on Iranian intentions. Gates was the last administration official to denounce Iran in harsh terms over Iraq, declaring in a speech at a Persian Gulf security conference in Bahrain Dec. 8, "Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos, no matter the strategic value or cost in the blood of innocents." That rhetoric was almost certainly aimed, however, at avoiding a stampede away from the administration's efforts to pressure Iran on its uranium enrichment programme in the wake of the stunning publication of the national intelligence estimate's conclusion that Iran had abandoned covert nuclear weapons work in 2003.
Gates hinted in comments to reporters when he arrived in Bahrain that he was much less certain of the Iranian intention than his rhetoric at the conference would have suggested. He mentioned the call by Shiite Mahdi Army leader Muqtada al-Sadr for a ceasefire as a key factor in the improved security in the Baghdad area, along with the reduction in attacks by armour-piercing rounds which had long been blamed on Iran. Gates appeared to suggest that he did not rule out an Iranian contribution to the improvement, saying it was "too early to tell" whether the reduction in militia attacks since August was due to successful military efforts to disrupt Mahdi Army networks or "what the Iranians may or may not be doing". The State Department's decision to acknowledge that Iran has contributed to the reduction in violence in Iraq has no doubt been influenced by Iranian political figures and officials who work closely with the U.S. Embassy to oppose the Mahdi Army and who have been insisting for months that Iran was helping to restrain Sadr. Iraqi Islamic Council Chairman Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, whose party is the key Shiite political ally in the U.S. effort to weaken the Madhi Army, met with Rice Nov. 30 and told her that Iran plays a positive role in establishing security in Iraq, according to the Tehran Times. Al-Hakim was quoted as saying, "There are documents proving that Iran has supported Iraq." Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who had argued both publicly and privately last fall that Iran was behind Sadr's Aug. 29 ceasefire, met with Rice two days before the Satterfield and Crocker interviews. The implication of the advice of the anti-Sadr, pro-Iranian Iraqis is that the United States can use Iran to further weaken Sadr and the Madhi Army. The State Department strategy recognises that the Madhi Army, which poses the main threat to the George W. Bush administration's plan to maintain an indefinite U.S. military presence in the country, is too strong to be suppressed by U.S. or Iraqi military forces. And it would seek an end to the accusations against Iran regarding Iraqi Shiite militias that have been issued regularly by U.S. civilian and military officials throughout 2007. Crocker told the Post he was prepared to make the inference of a helpful Iranian role in the reduction of operations by the Shiite militias when he meets with Iran in the next round of talks. The Defence Department's view of Iranian policy is influenced primarily by the perspective of the U.S. military command in Baghdad. Gen. David Petraeus also recognises that there must be a political strategy to weaken Sadr's forces. However, he and his staff have been focusing more on the fact that the Madhi Army is continuing to attack U.S. and Iraqi security forces in the Shiite provinces of Qadisiyah, Babil and Dhi Qar, as stated in the latest Pentagon report. The military command continues to insists that the "Shi'a extremists and rogue elements" of the Mahdi Army are "Iranian-backed". That analysis clearly implies that the United States should not back away from the accusations of Iranian export of weapons to and manipulation of Shiite militias that the U.S. command has been making for nearly a year. Given President Bush's penchant for letting agencies with conflicting policies work things out themselves rather than impose a policy decision, the State and Defence Departments may continue to carry out their own policy lines on the subject of Iran's role in Iraq until a new development resolves the differences. That will introduce another layer of contradictions into an extraordinarily murky policy toward the Iran-Iraq complex of issues. *Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. His latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in June 2005.

AND HERE COMES THE DENIAL ....

Petraeus Aide Denies Report That Iran Is Not Aiding Iraq Militants
January 03, 2008 Fox News foxnews.com
A spokesman for Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, denied a story published Thursday in the Washington Times that said Petraeus believed Iran no longer was training or supplying weapons to Islamic militants in Iraq. Col. Steven Boylan told FOX News that the article, purported to include quotes from Petraeus and Boylan, "is inaccurate." "We do not know if there has been a decrease in the supply of Iranian weapons," Boylan wrote to news outlets that picked up the Washington Times story. "It is not clear if Iran's leaders stopped supplying weapons or training to extremist elements in Iraq. We hope that they have, but until we can confirm it, we are in the wait and see mode. "We have seen a decrease in the attacks using four specific types of Iranian weapons. However, this should not be misunderstood as anything other than lowered levels of attacks using these specific weapons," he wrote. The Times story included what it said was a quote from Boylan, saying, "We are ready to confirm the excellence of the senior Iranian leadership in their pledge to stop the funding, training, equipment and resourcing of the militia special groups. "We have seen a downward trend in the signature-type attacks using weapons provided by Iran." Click here to view the full report in The Washington Times. Several weeks ago the National Intelligence Estimate said that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Iran as 'Real Enemy'

Sunni Insurgent Leader Paints Iran as 'Real Enemy'U.S. Strategy Described as Only Inflaming Iraqi Resistance

By Joshua Partlow : Washington Post Foreign Service : Saturday, July 14, 2007

BAGHDAD -- He wore a pale yellow dress shirt and black-rimmed glasses that lost their tint when he entered the dark lobby of a Baghdad hotel. He drank orange soda and refused a cigarette. His face was tense, but he spoke in a calm, open way about the satisfaction of killing Shiites with his own hands.
Over the course of a 90-minute interview, a leader of an armed Sunni group in western Baghdad described his hatred for Iran and the current Iraqi government, while outlining the dimensions of an armed insurgency that extends well beyond al-Qaeda in Iraq, the organization that U.S. officials routinely identify as their central enemy. Abu Sarhan, as the 37-year-old insurgent wished to be known, said Iraq's Sunnis are deep into an entrenched and irresolvable civil war against Iranian-backed Shiites. He said the premise of the U.S. military's counterinsurgency strategy -- deploying thousands of soldiers in small outposts in violent neighborhoods -- only inflames the insurgency and prompts attacks against the Americans. If U.S. forces release Sunni detainees, remove the concrete blast barriers that now cordon off several neighborhoods and improve services in areas neglected by the Shiite-led government, "the attacks will be reduced 95 percent within days," he said. He added that the Americans' insistence on striking Sunni areas "is generating an increasing resistance." A balding, wiry man who associates said had been an officer in the Fedayeen, the black-clad paramilitary force of the ousted government of Saddam Hussein, Abu Sarhan refused to give his real name. He said he was the "general coordinator" between al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Omar Brigade, an insurgent group founded in July 2005 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed by U.S. forces in June 2006. Zarqawi created the Omar Brigade to fight Shiite militias, particularly the Badr Organization, which is loyal to the country's largest Shiite political party, now known as the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. In Amiriyah, the western Baghdad neighborhood where the Omar Brigade is active, the group is believed to have planted roadside bombs that have killed U.S. troops. Abu Sarhan said he had not personally taken part in those attacks. But he could not say the same for Shiite targets. "Since the beginning of the occupation until now, I have participated in killing many of the militia members, I say it frankly," he said.
Asked how many, he looked down and paused for several seconds, his hands interlocked on the cafeteria table. "It's hard to count," he said. An associate of Abu Sarhan's vouched for his leadership credentials. And a college student in Amiriyah, who said he is not an insurgent but that he had met Abu Sarhan briefly about two weeks earlier, said the Sunni insurgent is considered the leader of the Omar Brigade. Abu Sarhan's views illustrate the deep animosity toward Shiites that fuels so much of the sectarian violence in Iraq. His comments also suggested a more restrained view of the United States, which he considers an occupier but one that should not leave immediately. "I personally don't have a hatred of the American people, and I respect American civilization," he said. "They have participated in the progress of all the nations of the world. They invented computers. Such people should be respected. But people who are crying over someone who died 1,400 years ago" -- referring to Shiites and their veneration of a leader killed in the 7th century -- "these should be eliminated, to clear the society of them, because they are simply trash." "The real enemy for the resistance is Iran and those working for Iran," he went on. "Because Iran has a feud which goes back thousands of years with the people of Iraq and the government of Iraq." Abu Sarhan said that the leading Shiite parties in the government, including the Dawa party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, along with the Supreme Council and prominent Shiite militias, are beholden to Iran. The Iranians appeared to be of such grave concern to him not just because of the bloody history of war between the two countries, but also because of Iran's perceived intolerance toward Sunnis in general. He said his long-term political goal was to recapture the prominence that Sunnis had enjoyed under Hussein's government.
"The problem is that the Americans have a relationship with the slaves: Dawa, Badr Organization, the Mahdi Army are slaves to Iran," he said. Abu Sarhan described al-Qaeda in Iraq as an organized, predominantly Iraqi-run network with a strict hierarchy. "There are multiple networks, and each network has its own command or leadership, but they're all under one command," he said. "Just like colleges and universities. Each university has several colleges, and each college has a dean, but the entire university has a president." He did not condemn the actions of al-Qaeda in Iraq, but he said there were ideological differences among insurgent groups. "Al-Qaeda is more strict than the others in their way of thinking, in terms of applying religious rituals and behavior, and also the way of working. Al-Qaeda, for example, kills every Shiite, while the other factions kill only the Iranian spies or those who are members of militias," he said. U.S. military commanders have worked in recent weeks to exploit the divisions within the Sunni insurgency. The Americans have collaborated with members of such groups as the Islamic Army and the 1920 Revolution Brigades who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq because of its indiscriminate killing. A movement that started in the western province of Anbar with alliances among Sunni tribal leaders to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq has begun to emerge among local Sunnis in the town of Abu Ghraib, west of the capital, in the city of Baqubah to the northeast and in Amiriyah, where Abu Sarhan's group operates. In May, at least 14 U.S. soldiers working in Amiriyah were killed, a sharp increase over previous months. After those losses, U.S. commanders began working with Sunni residents, including some members of the Islamic Army, to help capture or kill those from al-Qaeda in Iraq. Abu Sarhan, who lives in the nearby Khadra neighborhood, dismissed this cooperation with Americans, saying it represented temporary divisions rather than a widespread acceptance of U.S. forces. "Right now I think that the Islamic Army has split into two factions. Some are cooperating with the Americans against the rest of the Sunnis, while some have remained as they are," he said. The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, recently described al-Qaeda in Iraq as "public enemy number one." And President Bush, during a speech July 4, cited the organization as the one group that attempts to "cause enough chaos and confusion so America would leave."
"We must defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq," Bush said. But Abu Sarhan described al-Qaeda in Iraq as one of "hundreds" of insurgent groups, some aligned and others in some degree of conflict, ranging from cells of about 10 people to groups with scores or hundreds of members. "The American president insisting on fighting al-Qaeda, or saying that al-Qaeda is the problem in Iraq, is just like someone who is insisting on taking diabetes medicine while he has a cardiac problem," he said, describing it as an "intentional" misdiagnosis. "Any person in the position of the American president, who has drawn himself a certain path, would be very embarrassed to change that track and confess that he has been wrong. Unless he loves his people more than he loves himself. Only then could he confess his wrongdoing for the sake of his people."Abu Sarhan estimated that about half the attacks against American forces come as reprisals for U.S. raids or arrests. He cited the U.S. offensive in Diyala province, Operation Arrowhead Ripper, as the type of effort that engenders more enemies than friends. "You can imagine how many families were hurt because of this military campaign," he said. Still, he did not advocate an immediate U.S. withdrawal, but rather a gradual drawdown of troops to coincide with a reconciliation with Sunni insurgents. "Lift the barriers. Move the checkpoints. Build a hospital. And release the detainees from the area. And you will witness very quickly a tangible difference. The hatred and the strikes against the Americans will be wiped out or greatly reduced," he said. "The solution is political, not military. And then the American soldiers will be able to walk down the streets without their protective vests." But when the Americans do eventually leave, he said, "the future will be dim." "There will be a fierce civil war, a grinding civil war, because Iran will always be there," he said. "But the Sunnis are ready for such a day." Abu Sarhan stood up from the table. He shook hands with an iron grip, then put his right hand over his heart, a common gesture of friendship. He left the hotel, heading into the glare of a Baghdad summer day. His glasses darkened over his eyes as he walked away.

LET THEM HAVE IT !

Eleven Terrorists Held; Bomb-Making Factory Seized in IraqBy American Forces Press ServiceMichNews.comJun 12, 2007
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists during operations targeting al Qaeda in Iraq operations in the Baghdad area today. In operations yesterday, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers seized a bomb-making factory, along with another large weapons cache while on patrol in the eastern portion of the Rashid district of the Iraqi capital. Troops from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, and Company A, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, discovered the factory, a complex of small buildings deep in the thick palm groves of East Rashid. The find consisted of one vehicle wired and loaded with explosives, 54 82 mm mortars, 27 155 mm artillery shells, one 500-pound bomb, 64 anti-tank mines, two 200-pound bombs, three 100-pound bombs, 30 130 mm projectiles, 30 hand grenades, 200 artillery boosters, 10 40 mm rounds, 300 5-gallon cans of nitric acid used to make homemade explosives, and 1,500 anti-personnel mines. Troops also found enough wiring and bomb-making material to create more than 300 improvised explosive devices. In a separate cache found near the complex, an additional 125 5-gallon containers of nitric acid were found. Three other vehicles were found wired as car bombs, but did not contain explosives. Elsewhere in Iraq, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers, in cooperation with Iraqi security forces, conducted a raid in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Hateen on June 10, uncovering a cache of bomb-making materials and capturing a terrorist suspect believed to be linked to al Qaeda in Iraq. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, caught the alleged al Qaeda member and found about 500 boxes of toilet bowl cleaner and 20 boxes of circuit breaker covers, which can be used to build improvised chemical weapons. In other Iraq operations, an insurgent detonated himself in a suicide car bomb near the Iraqi highway patrol headquarters east of Tikrit on June 10. Fourteen Iraqi policemen were killed in the attack. In addition, Iraqi army and coalition force soldiers fired at and used attack helicopters to repel insurgents firing from inside the Al Hussiniyah mosque in Old Baquba on June 9.

WHY IS THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IDIOTS SO STUPID ?

U.S.: NATO Has Intercepted Iranian Arms : Wednesday June 13, 2007 2:31 PM
By JAMEY KEATEN : Associated Press Writer

PARIS (AP) - NATO has intercepted Iranian weapons shipments to Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents, providing evidence Iran is violating international law to aid a group it once considered a bitter enemy, a senior U.S. diplomat said Wednesday. ``There's irrefutable evidence the Iranians are now doing this,'' Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said on CNN. ``It's certainly coming from the government of Iran. It's coming from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government.'' Speaking separately to The Associated Press, Burns said NATO must act to stop the shipments. The Iran-Afghanistan frontier is ``a very long border. But the Iranians need to know that we are there and that we're going to oppose this.'' ``It's a very serious question,'' he said, adding that Iran is in ``outright violation'' of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Burns did not give details on the scope of the alleged Iranian shipments, although he appeared to indicate that they were limited. ``I don't think it's made a substantial difference in the greater theater of the war,'' he said. ``It is not going to turn the tide against us, but it is very troublesome, it is illegal under international law ... and the Iranians need to stop it,'' Burns told the AP. Burns, who was holding talks in Paris, first accused Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan - the most direct comments yet on the issue by a ranking American official. In Afghanistan last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iranian weapons were falling into the hands of anti-government Taliban fighters, but he stopped short of blaming Tehran. Iran's possible role in aiding insurgents in Iraq has been hotly debated, and last month some Western and Persian Gulf governments alleged that the Islamic government in Tehran is also secretly bolstering Taliban fighters. In an AP interview Monday, U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill said Taliban fighters are showing signs of better training, using combat techniques comparable to ``an advanced Western military'' in ambushes of U.S. Special Forces soldiers. ``In Afghanistan it is clear that the Taliban is receiving support, including arms from ... elements of the Iranian regime,'' British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in the May 31 edition of the Economist. Iran, which is also in a dispute with the West over its nuclear program, denies the Taliban accusation, calling it part of a broad anti-Iranian campaign. Tehran says it makes no sense that a Shiite-led government like itself would help the fundamentalist Sunni movement of the Taliban. Burns acknowledged that it was ``curious'' that Iran would aid the Taliban. ``It's quite surprising,'' he told CNN. ``The Iranians had said that they were the mortal enemies of the Taliban in 2001 and '02.'' On the nuclear issue, Burns claimed that sanctions already leveled against Iran were being felt and reiterated the threat of more if the country refuses to suspend uranium enrichment - which the West fears could be meant for the production of nuclear weapons. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday dismissed the possibility that a third set of Security Council sanctions would harm Iran. Burns disagreed. ``I think most people would say that the Iranians are experiencing considerable economic difficulties because of the financial sanctions that have been taken outside the Council and because of Security Council sanctions,'' he told CNN. While diplomatic solutions are preferable, ``they will get sanctions if they choose confrontation,'' Burns said. ``All of us want to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons power. That's the policy of the entire world.''

Suspected Terrorists Captured, Killed in Iraq; Weapons Caches Found

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2007 – Coalition forces nabbed numerous suspected terrorists and uncovered several weapons caches in operations in Iraq over the past few days, military officials reported.
Coalition forces captured 12 suspected terrorists during separate raids today targeting the al Qaeda in Iraq network and associated makeshift bomb cells.
During an operation in Ramadi, five suspected terrorists were captured, all with alleged ties to car bomb and rocket attacks against coalition forces. Coalition forces also captured two suspects in Baghdad for their reported involvement in procuring bomb-making material.
Two other suspects were detained in Mosul with alleged ties to foreign fighter facilitation and makeshift bomb operations. In Habbaniyah, coalition forces captured three suspects with alleged ties with the al Qaeda in Iraq network.
“Coalition forces will continue systematic operations to kill or capture al Qaeda and associated terrorists,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Forces Iraq spokesman. “Terrorists captured will be prosecuted for their crimes under the Iraqi justice system.”
Coalition forces also detained 18 suspected terrorists yesterday during raids targeting al Qaeda in Iraq and foreign fighter facilitators. During a raid southeast of Balad, coalition forces detained suspects and found makeshift bomb-making components, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades and rocket propelled grenade launchers. In Fallujah, coalition forces detained six suspected terrorists during an operation targeting a foreign fighter facilitation cell.
Elsewhere yesterday, 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division discovered a large weapons cache hidden in Mosul containing nearly a ton of explosives, projectile rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, other grenades and rockets, and makeshift bomb materials. This was the seventh cache uncovered over the past several weeks in Ninewa province, military officials reported.
Additionally, 2nd Iraqi Army units captured 25 insurgents and killed more than 16, all tied to makeshift bomb emplacement or attacks against Iraqi security forces or coalition troops.
Also, Iraqi police from the 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division and paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team conducted a humanitarian medical assistance operation in Sadr City yesterday as part of operations to bring security and stability to the former Mahdi Army stronghold.
Iraqi and coalition medical providers treated 453 people, including 153 women and 122 children, during the first large-scale humanitarian aid operation conducted in Sadr City since Iraqi and coalition forces moved into the area in early March.
“Medical operations are just one way that we can make an immediate positive impact in areas in which we operate. This is just the beginning of a long-term program to improve the quality of life for residents of Sadr City," said Maj. Kyle Simpson, Brigade Civil Affairs Officer for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
Since Iraqi and coalition forces entered Sadr City as part of the Baghdad security plan, violence has dropped off 75 percent and the overall security situation has dramatically improved since December, when surge troops began arriving, military officials said.
Also, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers killed two insurgents who were preparing to plant a makeshift bomb on a road east of Mirad as Suki on March 16.
Soldiers from Troop B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment observed two men loosening the road's surface with gasoline. When they dispatched two M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to investigate the activity, the insurgents fled the scene in a vehicle.
The insurgents later returned to the site to finish digging the hole. The 2nd Battalion troopers then engaged and killed with machine guns on the Bradleys.
No U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded during the engagement.
In Al Hillah, insurgents attacked coalition forces, and Iraqi civilians with mortars, killing one Iraqi and wounding 13 others on March 15. Iraqi police and a military transition team from 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division reacted quickly to the attack and conducted a cordon and search that detained five insurgents connected to the mortar attack, officials said.
The incident is being further investigated and the detainees are being held for questioning.
Also on March 15, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers medically evacuated two Iraqi women from a mortar impact site north of Dayrat ar Rih. After responding to reports of mortar fire, soldiers from Troop B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment discovered two women who were severely wounded in the attack. The women were taken to 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, where they were treated for their wounds.