Maj. Ehsan Moddafar Uraby, the planning officer of 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division shakes hands with Radcliff, Ky., native U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeff Broadwater, the commander of 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Ga., after receiving a combat patch as a symbol of brotherhood at Combat Outpost War Eagle June 26. The Soldiers, operating in Baghdad with the 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Div., and their Iraqi counterparts planned a mission to clear Hayy Al Wazariyah industrial park in the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Leith Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Coalition forces detained a suspected secret cell terrorist Friday in Baghdad’s Sadr City section. It is believed the suspected terrorist has close ties to Iranian terror networks and is responsible for numerous attacks on Iraqi civilians as well as on Iraqi and Coalition forces in Baghdad.

The detainee is also suspected of recruiting Iraqis to fill the ranks of Iranian terror groups operating in Iraq, officials said.

“Coalition troops continue to target the terrorists who bring explosively formed penetrators and other aid into Iraq,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesperson. “We remain committed to dismantling terror networks that seek to kill innocent Iraqis and Coalition forces.”

Explosively formed penetrators are sophisticated roadside bombs designed to penetrate armored vehicles.

This and other ongoing military operations are part of an overall offensive against insurgents in Iraq called Operation Phantom Thunder, which began June 15, once all “surge” troops were in place.

Also Friday, Coalition troops killed three terrorists and detained 26 others during a series of operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders and terrorist-bomb networks.

Coalition troops disrupted the al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader network during a raid on several buildings east of Fallujah. Three terrorists were killed and 16 suspects were detained.

In Anbar province Friday, Coalition forces raided a suspected terrorist haven northeast of Karmah. The ground forces captured four individuals at the scene, including one man who allegedly has ties to a senior al-Qaeda leader who was killed during a May 1 Coalition operation.

Just south of Baghdad, Coalition forces Friday raided a building in search of a suspected agent for a leader in the Baghdad vehicle-bomb network. The ground forces detained two suspected terrorists and moved to a second building, where they found and captured the suspected agent.

Also Friday, Coalition troops captured a close associate of the suspected military commander for al-Qaeda forces in the Tarmiyah area during a raid west of the town. And in Mosul Friday, Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists while targeting the alleged al-Qaeda emir in Kirkuk, believed to be responsible for issuing anti-coalition edicts.

(Compiled from Multi-National Force-Iraq and Multi-National Corps-Iraq news releases.)

In other developments throughout Iraq:

•           Multi-National Division-Baghdad attack helicopter crews killed one insurgent and wounded another in southern Baghdad June 29.

•           A combined Iraqi-Coalition Forces operation netted 41 individuals on the Iraqi army’s persons of interest list June 27.