MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER
Release A20070202a
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces, with the help of a local Imam and the Iraqi Army, detained two suspected terrorists and uncovered a weapons cache Thursday inside a mosque near Tarmiyah.
Intelligence reports indicated that al-Qaida in Iraq foreign fighter facilitation cells were operating in the area and were using the mosque for weapons storage.
The local Imam and Iraqi Army personnel entered the mosque and secured the two suspects handing them over to Coalition Forces for questioning.
The weapons cache consisted of several AK-47s and ten 60mm mortar rounds. Mosque entries occur only as a last resort, and only when substantial and credible evidence shows insurgent activity is occurring there – i.e., meetings, storage of weapons, harboring of insurgent leaders.
Coalition forces respect the sanctity and holiness of all places of worship and exercise the utmost restraint when planning for and considering the conduct of operations in and around mosques.
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