MONFIA, Iraq -- Iraqi Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Division, return aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter at the conclusion of Operation Red Light II, Saturday April 1, 2006.

Despite this, insurgents and terrorists find their operations in Iraq increasingly restricted, as Iraqi and Coalition forces round up terrorists and destroy their supplies.

Soldiers from the 1st Armored Division discovered a weapons cache near Tal Afar April 1, after engaging three insurgents who were loading mortar rounds into a car. The men fled when engaged, but the Soldiers secured the car, weapons and ordnance and also discovered a nearby bunker containing mortar and artillery rounds and AK-47 rifles. All of the items were destroyed by explosive ordnance disposal personnel.

Four gunmen were killed and another wounded in two failed attacks on Iraqi and Coalition Soldiers near Balad April 1. In the first incident, three gunmen attacked an Iraqi Army unit east of Balad. The Soldiers returned fire and trapped the gunmen in a nearby house. A 4th Infantry Division patrol arrived and took fire as they approached the house. The Soldiers returned fire, killing the three gunmen in the house. Three AK-47 assault rifles and several hand grenades were discovered in the building.

Another group of Coalition Soldiers took small arms fire from a second group of gunmen south of Balad. The Soldier’s returned fire, killed one gunman, wounding another and captured four additional suspects. No Iraqi or Coalition troops were injured in either confrontation.

The day prior, Operation Red Light II netted 17 anti-Iraqi forces and four weapons caches in a combined air and ground assault. Soldiers from 4th Iraqi Army Division and Rakkasans from the U.S. 101st Airborne Division targeted suspected terrorist cells in Salah Ad Din province March 31.

The caches contained IED-making materials, more than 25,000 rounds of ammunition, more than one hundred artillery rounds and projectile charges, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, surface-to-air missiles, landmines and hand grenades. The 17 detainees are in Iraqi Army custody for questioning.

Iraqi Army Soldiers discovered the remains of a would-be terrorist and a roadside-bomb, and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained a terrorist cell leader March 29 in Baghdad.

Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army Division received a tip from an Iraqi citizen that two men were placing an explosive device on the side of the road. When they arrived at the scene, they discovered the remains of one terrorist and an unexploded roadside-bomb. The Soldiers removed the remains and the unexploded bomb.

In another incident on March 29, MND-B Soldiers detained a known terrorist cell leader in southern Baghdad. 4th ID and 8th Iraqi Army Division Soldiers detained the cell leader -- a former high-ranking intelligence officer -- while conducting a cordon and search operation. The terrorist is responsible for planning and facilitating operations against Coalition Forces.

(Compiled from official Defense Department and Iraq Ministry of Defense sources)