Iraqi Police Pressure Enemy in Southern Baghdad

24 April 2008

Iraqi National Police from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, working in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad, seized a weapons cache and detained a suspected criminal during a security patrol April 20.

A U.S. Air Force airman assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Kirkuk Regional Air Base, Iraq, sits atop a Humvee turret during an evening patrol, April 17, 2008.

Conducting simultaneous raids at two different sites, 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP Div. officers captured two heavy machine guns with 1,800 rounds, a sniper rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and detained a suspected criminal operating in the Risalah neighborhood of West Rashid.

Iraqi Security Forces such as the 3rd Bn., 5th Bde., 2nd NP conduct daily patrols and security operations for the Government of Iraq in support of the Baghdad Security Plan to maintain levels of security for the 1.2 million Iraqis living in southern Baghdad.

The Iraqi Army soldiers of 1st Battalion, 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, also detained two suspected criminals during an early morning operation in the Saydiyah community of Rashid.

“Thanks to the valiant efforts of the Iraqi Security Forces, the Raider Brigade continues to apply pressure to the enemy to provide a safe and secure environment for the Iraqi people,” said Maj. Dave Olson, the spokesman for the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., and MND-B. “Soldiers of the 1st ‘Raider’ Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division – Baghdad, remain committed to supporting the ISF in their fight against terrorism and the criminals who are targeting innocent Iraqis.”

Separately, a suicide bomber detonated near a local market killing two Iraqi citizens and wounding six, including a three-year old child and an Iraqi Policeman, in the Al Dawasa neighborhood of Mosul, April 23.

The bomber was spotted pushing a shopping cart before detonation.

“Insurgents continue to try and intimidate the innocent people of Iraq,” said Maj. Peggy Kageleiry spokeswoman for Multi-National Division-North. “These individuals and their brutal attacks must be stopped.”

This incident is under investigation.