May 30, 2007

Soldiers Engage Enemy, Confiscate Weapons, IEDs

Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
RELEASE No. 20070530-01

AZ-ZAIDON, Iraq – Coalition Soldiers detained two suspected insurgents, found a cache, and seized a local vehicle after a small-arms attack Today near Az-Zaidon, Iraq, west of Baghdad.

Soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment ‘Wolverines’, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., were conducting counter improvised explosive device operations along a main Iraqi highway when they spotted a possible IED.

When the Soldiers followed the IED’s command wire, they were led to a small shack, and a man ran from the building.

During the search for the man, the patrol encountered two local vehicles in the area. As Soldiers approached, they were engaged with small-arms fire. The troops returned fire and cleared a nearby house, where they found another IED prepared for use.

One insurgent was killed in the firefight and another was wounded.

The Soldiers continued to receive small-arms fire but searched the vehicles, where they found a G-3 assault rifle, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a suitcase full of falsified identification papers, six cell phones, a plastic bag with a cordless phone, and a box of loose ammunition and AK-47 magazines.

Another vehicle approached at a high rate of speed, and the Soldiers disabled it with rifle shots. Three men fled from the vehicle and the Soldiers found a 9mm pistol inside, but were unable to find the men.

Another pickup truck was searched, and the troops recovered a spool of copper wire and an empty spool as well as a rocket booster. The pickup truck was taken to a coalition base for further investigation.

The patrol evacuated the wounded man for medical treatment.

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