A Soldier with 101st Airborne Division's 187th Infantry Regiment, speaks to a member of the Iraqi Police about security in Siniya, Iraq Monday April 10, 2006.

The terrorist worked as a Jaysh al-Islami cell leader in Baquba for the last six months, and was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of an Iraqi woman. Over the past 15 years, Abu Umar al Kurdi traveled extensively throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq and had met with senior al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan in 1999.

In the 1980s he formed ties with the Muslim Brotherhood while in Iran and Pakistan before joining the Jihad in Afghanistan in 1989. He was given the title of an al-Qaida ambassador and attended military training camps near Jalabad where Osama bin Laden often visited. In 1991 he returned to the Muslim Brotherhood in Peshawar and in 1992 moved to Iraq , joining the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan.

Throughout the 1990s until his death, Abu Umar al Kurdi held various positions including that of liaison between terrorist networks, as an operations officer responsible for coordinating the activities of various terrorist groups, and as a security chief for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan .

A current detainee claimed that Abu Umar al Kurdi recruited him into the JAI terrorist organization. The detainee also told officials that Abu Umar al-Kurdi kidnapped and murdered a female hostage several months ago. Officials confirmed the kidnapping and are investigating the murder.

In the Tigris River valley, Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers discovered four weapons caches during a combined operation

Soldiers from the 6th Iraqi Army Division and U.S. 22nd Infantry Regiment conducted a two-phase search in southern Baghdad April 10.

During the first phase of the operation, Iraqi Soldiers found pre-made roadside-bombs encased in concrete.

In the second phase, the Iraqi and MND-B Soldiers air assaulted into the area and found additional caches.

The caches from both phases contained RPG rounds, machine guns, mortar rounds, landmines, homemade explosives, grenades, 13 pre-made roadside-bombs, rockets, bags of linked ammunition and a sniper rifle with 5,000 rounds of ammunition. The Soldiers also destroyed five boats used to transport weapons across the Tigris River .

“This area is a staging area for attacks both across the Tigris and into our area of operations,” said 2nd Lt. James Stephan of 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry. Regiment. “The weapons and material found here confirm our suspicions that the enemy is concentrated heavily along the palm groves and riverbanks in the area.”

An explosive ordnance disposal team took control of the cache caches.

Multi-National Force - Iraq Spokesman Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch talked about the importance of getting the caches out of the hands of the enemy during his weekly press conference from Baghdad.

“We'd love to be able to attest to the fact that the enemy's got no munitions left, and that's just not where we are. We are convinced that conducting these operations has good effect over a period of time because it takes it out of the hand of the enemy and he can't use it to blow up innocent women and children,” said Lynch. “So we're optimistic that we're making progress. We don't believe that he can resupply as quickly as we can take it away from him. So in the end, it will be a problem on his part on gathering these munitions. So we just have to continue.”

(Compiled from official Defense Department sources)