BAGHDAD, Iraq - The attack, in a poor, predominantly Shiite neighborhood of eastern Baghdad, left a wrenching scene of bloodshed, anger and despair Wednesday. Children's colored slippers, pieces of flesh and shrapnel were strewed around a wide crater in the street. Women wailed and slapped themselves on the chest and face in a ritual of grief as bodies were placed in crude coffins and carried away. A suicide bomber had steered his vehicle toward a group of children who had crowded aroun...
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 13, 2005 – Iraqi soldiers stopped three terrorist attacks against a water plant, a military recruiting drive, and a hospital July 11, all around Baghdad. No soldiers or civilians were injured in any of the attacks, and the Iraqi troops' efforts saved the lives of countless citizens, officials noted. At 3:25 a. m. that day, terrorists fired on Iraqi soldiers guarding the Khark Water Treatment Plant in north Baghdad. The guards returned fire, driving the attackers away...
U. S. Unit Helps Bring Water to Iraqi Farmers YUSUFIYAH, Iraq, July 10, 2005 – The Tigris River is the lifeblood of the Arab J'Bour village and other rural farming communities here. Water siphoned from the Tigris River pours into a canal channel through efforts of 48th Brigade Combat Team civil affairs soldiers, working with the people of Yusufiyah. The unit's actions allow water to reach thousands of acres of parched farmland. Photo by Spc. Tracy Smith, USA (Click photo for screen-re...
Detained U. S. Citizen Released WASHINGTON, July 10, 2005 – Coalition forces released Cyrus Kar, an Iranian-born U. S. citizen today, Multinational Force Iraq officials announced. Kar, his Iranian companion and their taxi driver were detained by the Iraqi Army near Balad, Iraq, on May 17 following a search of their taxi. In the vehicle were 35 washing-machine timers, a common component used for the construction of improvised explosive devices. IEDs have become the insurgents' weapo...
July 10, 2005 – Top U. S. homeland security officials said today that while security is never an absolute, the U. S. is doing all it can to ensure the safety of those using passenger rail and transit. This comes in light of the explosions of four bombs July 7 in London. Three in the subway system detonated within 50 seconds of each other and one exploded on a double-decker bus within a half hour of the others. The blasts killed at least 49 and injured more than 700, according to news source...
Flagged by Islamic groups as a probable hate crime, a burned Quran found at the doorstep of a Virginia mosque turned out to be a case of a Muslim who wasn't sure how to properly dispose of his religion's sacred book. Last month, members of the Islamic Center of Blacksburg said they were stunned when they arrived at the building for prayers and found a plastic shopping bag in front of the door filled with a charred copy of the Quran and the burnt pages of Arabic books, the Roanoke Times re...
Aug. 20, 2005 – The rebuilding effort continues in Iraq, and coalition military officials here today provided a summary of the past week's progress. Children in a village of Tamim province received school supplies, clothing and toys from the Nahrain Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that focuses on providing proper nutrition, decent clothing and medical supplies to Iraqi women and children. The foundation received its supplies as part of a joint effort between American donations an...
Progress Spreads in Iraq on Many Fronts, Official Says By Samantha L. Quigley American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2005 – Progress in Iraq continues, and this includes the work extension granted earlier this week to draft the country's new constitution, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today. "They have made substantial progress," Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said about the Iraqis during a Baghdad briefing today, "but needed more time to put together a document tha...
MOSUL, Iraq — Security Forces detained six suspected terrorists and seized a number of items including a letter written to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi while conducting a raid on a safe house in Mosul July 27. In the letter to al-Zarqawi, the author, Abu Zayd, a terrorist operating out of Mosul, complained of the poor leadership in Mosul and mistreatment of foreign fighters. Abu Zayd informs in his letter to the “Sheikh” that, “This is a clarification of what has become of the situation in Mosul,...
Weapons cache destroyed in Al Anbar BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-national ground forces, acting on an Iraqi tip, discovered and destroyed a large cache of artillery shells in the early hours of Aug. 16. The shells were apparently intended for use as improvised explosive devices. An explosive ordinance disposal technician advised that the 25 to 30 individual 152mm rounds located inside a building within Al Anbar province be destroyed. Security forces confirmed there were no friendly or en...
Iraqi Policeman Engages Suicide Bomber in Mahawil American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2005 – An Iraqi police officer identified a suicide bomber in Mahawil, Iraq, Aug. 14 and attempted to kill him before the bomb could be detonated, according to a multinational forces report. Despite the policeman's best efforts, the Syrian suicide bomber was able to detonate his bomb, killing two civilians and injuring four others in the town, which is located about 16 kilometers nort...
Aug. 12, 2005 U.S. Soldiers foil 7 bomb attacks, nab 8 suspects BAGHDAD, Iraq - A group of Iraqi citizens helped Task Force Baghdad Soldiers working in northwest Baghdad find two roadside bombs before terrorists could use them Aug. 10. The civilians approached a U.S. patrol at 9:15 a.m. to tell the Soldiers that the bombs were placed near a major highway in the area. When the patrol investigated the site, they found two land mines and two mortar rounds wrapped in detonation cord. The...
Successes this week in Iraq (5-11 Aug., 2005) BAGHDAD, Iraq – Reconstruction projects strengthened Iraq's infrastructure this week, while community leaders showed their commitment to rebuilding. Iraqi Security Forces continue to be an essential part in working to increase the country's security. Approximately 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts in about six weeks. Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced Aug. 6 that r...
First I am the first to admit I take the pollwith a grain of salt based on the sorce of the numbers. I would like to see ALL of the questtions they asked and what the responses were, even the negative ones, but for what they did report it is very interesting. Aug. 9, 2005 – A recent poll in Iraq shows Iraqis do not support the terrorists launching attacks in their country, Defense Department officials speaking on background said here today. However, officials said, the poll also shows th...
August 9, 2005 Release A050809b UPDATE: Operation Quick Strike nets car bomb factory CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Iraqi Security Force soldiers and Marines from Regimental Combat Team-2 discovered a bomb in a building in Haqliniyah during Operation Quick Strike August 8 . Three 155 mm artillery rounds, weighing more than 100 pounds apiece, were wired to a desk inside the building. Marines determined that the explosives could not be removed safely from the building. The bom...