Another Tip Leads to 10 Captured Terrorists

A tip by locals that weapons were being stored in a mosque south of Mahmudiyah resulted in 10 detained after terrorists fired on US forces when they came to investigate:

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Coalition troops responding to reports of weapons being moved into a mosque south of Mahmudiyah were attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade Aug. 18.

A local resident called Coalition Forces and reported weapons being unloaded from a vehicle and moved into a mosque. Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., investigated the report.

As the vehicles came up the road near the mosque, an RPG was fired from the building. It struck the vehicle and caused a small fire which Soldiers quickly extinguished.

Another platoon of 2-15 FAR troops arrived and secured the area. A bystander said a group of armed men had fled the mosque in groups of three and dispersed in different directions.

Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division searched the mosque, finding five possible rocket-launching devices. They also examined nearby buildings. A home near the mosque contained a flak vest and ammunition. Iraqi troops detained 10 people on suspicion of involvement in the incident.

As Soldiers of 2-15 FAR returned to Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah, another RPG round was fired at them, but missed.

The detained men were taken to the Iraqi Army Compound in Mahmudiyah for further questioning.

The mosque was not damaged during the incident.

Another tip, and more terrorists and their weapons are taken off the street. In the words of LTC Johnson, "[T]his is what right could look like." And it si waht right looks like, locals informing US Forces of enemy activity in their neighborhoods results in the terrorists beign removed and the enighborhood returning to normal.

That my friends is sucess at its most basic level.