KIRKUK, Iraq – During a joint cordon and search with Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) yesterday, Police Officers from the Kirkuk Emergency Support Unit (ESU) captured a reported member of the Ansar Al Sunna taqfiri organization, and seven other suspects.

Abu Abdallah, a suspected member of Ansar Al Sunna, is linked to attacks on Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in the Kirkuk area, and may have actually emplaced the IEDs for these attacks himself.

Another of those detained by the police, is a local security guard who is linked to attacks against Coalition Forces. It is also believed that this individual has been moving weapons and IEDs between Kirkuk and the nearby village of Hawijah.

In a similar operation involving the same two units yesterday, Iraqi Police nabbed a man suspected of supplying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to terrorists throughout the Kirkuk region. Muhammad Fallujah, believed to have ties with taqfiri organizations in and around Kirkuk, is being questioned by local police officials.

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne have been training and working alongside Iraqi Police Officers since November of last year. This teamwork is paying huge dividends, as in the past week Iraqi Police in Kirkuk have captured 40 suspected terrorists.

 

Note: “Taqfiri” is an Arabic term which literally translated means “excommunication and exile.” The term is used throughout the Middle East to define Muslim radicals.