Friday, April 21, 2006

Band of Brothers Soldiers Detain Suspects, Unearth Major Cache

U. S. soldiers from Task Force Band of Brothers scored successes in two operations this week.

Soldiers from the task force caught seven suspected insurgents in the act of emplacing explosives yesterday. Soldiers on patrol with Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, observed the suspects digging. As the patrol approached, the suspects tried to flee in two vehicles. The soldiers stopped, searched and detained all the suspects.

In one vehicle, a blue truck, soldiers discovered more than 120 mortar rounds, fuses and four missiles. At the site where the individuals had been digging, soldiers found a cache containing 250 artillery and mortar rounds, two anti-personnel land mines, one anti-tank mine, and a hand grenade. The munitions were taken to a secured location for controlled detonation. The suspects are undergoing questioning, U. S. officials said.

Meanwhile, a large cache discovered in Diyala province April 19 by Task Force Band of Brothers soldiers continues to yield munitions, officials said.

Iraqi soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, and Troop A, 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, uncovered more mortars and artillery rounds yesterday.

The initial find of nearly 50 mortar rounds and more than a dozen fuses was found to be much larger when an additional 250 artillery and mortar rounds were unearthed in the same location, officials said.
(Courtesy of DoD - American Forces Press Service and compiled from MNF-I news releases)

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