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KIRKUK, Iraq – In the past two days, Bastogne Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 101st Airborne Division, have detained several insurgents and confiscated a large cache filled with materials used in the construction of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) as result of combined efforts with Iraqi Security Forces.
After receiving information on a possible fake identification workstation, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, conducted a cordon and search with members of the Iraqi Police. Once inside the target residence, the combined force discovered more than 300 false identification cards, including Iraqi Police IDs. During the search, an Iraqi man came to the house to see the owner. After a few minutes of questioning, the man admitted to previously purchasing a false ID card from the owner of the residence. The owner of the house and the second man were both taken into custody.
In a similar incident, Bastogne Soldiers on a combined patrol with Iraqi Police discovered a weapons cache at a home in Kirkuk. Iraqi Emergency Services Unit had detained the owner of the residence the day prior after receiving information linking the man to a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack in the Raheem Awa neighborhood of the city. A search of the man’s house yielded several bags of ammunition as well as a large cache of materials used to make IED’s including four rocket propelled grenade rounds, three blocks of C-4 explosive, 13 Motorola radios with batteries, and four rolls of electrical wire.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team has been working with and training Iraqi Security Forces in the Province of Kirkuk since taking over responsibility for operations in Northern Iraq last November. The combined efforts of Bastogne Soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts continue to improve stability to the region as missions like these diminish the ability of insurgents to harm innocent civilians. |