 Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division search a suspected insurgent safe house near Dura'iya Sunday. Soldiers of the 1-15th Inf. are participating in Operation Marne Torch, a Multi-National Division-Center operation focused on eliminating enemy sanctuaries southeast of Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. Soldiers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Regiment, who are currently attached to 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment conducted Operation Destroyer Strike based on information gathered from local citizens. The operation was a part of Operation Marne Torch, being conducted by Multi-National Division-Center in efforts to eliminate insurgent sanctuaries southeast of Baghdad. “In that area there are a lot of people frustrated with sectarian violence and al-Qaeda,” said U.S. Army Capt. Troy Thomas, a staff officer with 3-1 Cav. Regt. “They are just fed up with it.” U.S. Army Capt. Brian Gilbert, commander of Company D and the commander of all Soldiers involved in the operation. He is in contact with local leaders and members of the city council on a daily basis. He spoke with local citizens and city council members following the operation. “We talked to pretty much everybody that lives there and they were happy to see us,” Gilbert said. “They were specifically happy about us showing our commitment to their security and taking the bad guys off the street.” The first objective in the operation was a large farm whose owner, according to local residents, was killed by al-Qaeda. Locals also said that al-Qaeda was using the farm as a training area, Gilbert said. Troops cleared two target locations to seize caches and disrupt insurgent activity. Four individuals were detained attempting to flee the first objective. One of the detainees is suspected of making road-side bombs for al-Qaeda and another provided additional information on cache sites. “All of the information provided by the informant coincided with previously collected intelligence,” said Thomas. The intelligence gathered from that detainee led to six additional searches and the detention of a suspected sniper with ties to the Mahdi Army, Thomas said. Items found in the cache included 54 mortar rounds, two artillery rounds, 29 cell phones, 29 nine-volt battery connectors and more than 20 circuit boards, all commonly used in the manufacturing of improvised explosive devices. The cache also contained four rockets, five AK-47 assault rifles, a .50-caliber machine gun and Iraqi Security Forces’ body armor. Coalition forces continue to conduct operations to destroy al-Qaeda’s forces and create a stable and safe Iraq. (U.S. Army story by Multi-National Division-Center PAO) In other developments throughout Iraq: |
