Release A060522b
Potential bomber captured before he could attack
TIKRIT, Iraq – Working off of a tip from a citizen of Bayji, Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Band of Brothers conducted a cordon and knock of a suspected insurgent's house in that town.
Upon entering the house the Soldiers discovered the insurgent with IED making material, two AK-47s, one submachine gun, a hundred rounds of ammunition and a fake ID card. The Soldiers also found the suspect's last will and testament, stating that he was going to give his life for the cause of killing Coalition Forces.
The insurgent was taken to a nearby military base for further questioning.
Tips from Iraqi civilians have led to dozens of weapons caches seized and suspects captured so far this year in the Task Force Band of Brothers area.
The residents of northern Iraq realize that each cache discovered and terrorist detained makes Iraq , their communities and their families that much safer.
Release A060522c
Sheile School-Back to School in Style
MOSUL, Iraq – A newly constructed school located in the center of Dahuk will provide service to approximately 840 students and 36 teachers.
This new two-story complex consists of a 12-room classroom school with a detached exterior lavatory building, a play-yard and a generator building; all of which is surrounded by a three-meter high perimeter wall.
The exterior and interior walls are of masonry construction with a concrete super structure and terrazzo tile flooring. The exterior wall finishes are cut stone and plaster.
“The architectural design and material selection was made by a local Iraqi engineer in coordination with the Director General of Education and then provided to the Dahuk Residence Office,” said Joshua Adekanbi, Dahuk resident engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The DG of Education uses a standard primary school design with the same floor plan. Since the plans are recycled, varied exterior architectural elements are chosen for each school.
This $460,000 project was funded by the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund and built by a local Iraqi construction company. Of the 317 IRRF-funded school projects in the northern region of Iraq , 315 are complete and two are in progress.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers participated as the Contracting and Construction Management and Quality Assurance of the over-all project.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (May 20, 2006) – As members of Iraq's government filed into the conference room a feeling of pride and excitement was felt in the crowd.
Parliament approved 39 ministers to form the elected, representative government of the country.
The Parliament confirmed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his choices for the Iraqi national unity government by a show of hands. After each vote, a loud applause reverberated through the crowd for each of the 39 cabinet members.
The vote followed months of political discussions following the Dec. 15, 2005, national elections. Even with that, the parties could not agree on ministers for defense, interior and national security.
Al-Maliki will serve as acting interior minister for the time being and will have responsibility for the Iraqi Police. Al-Maliki appointed Salam Zikam al-Zubaie, a Sunni Arab, as temporary defense minister. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, will be acting minister for national security.
Al-Maliki spoke on the trials Iraq has faced since ridding the country of a dictator and fighting the insurgency.
“We will expel terrorism and the elements of sabotage, backwardness, poverty, and ignorance,” he said.
The prime minister listed 34 points to the framework of the government. Many of the points focused on a central issue: “Preventing autocracy, dictatorship, sectarianism, and racism in all its forms and incorporating this attitude in all government policies and practices,” he said.
With the cabinet approval, the constitution the Iraqi people approved Oct. 15, 2005, takes full effect.
The historic event garnered praise from world leaders, ambassadors and military members.
"I congratulate Prime Minister Maliki on the formation of Iraq's new unity government. Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring. This broadly representative unity government offers a new opportunity for progress in Iraq,” said U.S. President George W. Bush in a statement released Saturday.
"Today, the Iraqis have established complete control over their nation," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell, Strategic Effects Director for Multi-National Force - Iraq. "They are now in the lead and the U.S. government is just in support of that. They are the authoritative decision-making body in this country and anything we do from here on, we will have to do in consultation with the legitimate government authority."
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzhad said he is pleased the Iraqis now have a democratically elected government. The embassy looks forward to working with the new ministers to build a free and secure Iraq, he said. He anticipates the new government will have an effect on the number of coalition troops in the country, but feels it is too early to say. "The current size of our forces, the composition of our forces, the current missions of our forces are not ends in themselves for us," he said during a news conference after the inauguration. "Iraqi self-reliance and increasing security for Iraqis is."
Release A060523a
CCCI convicts 12 insurgents; one sentenced to death, four sentenced to life
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 12 security detainees May 10 through May 16 for various crimes including organizing, heading, leading, joining armed groups, murder and possessing illegal weapons.
The trial court found Mahdi Ahmed Musa Ali al Jabouri guilty of violating Article 194 and Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code for organizing, heading, leading, joining armed groups and murder, and sentenced him to death. Coalition Forces apprehended him for leading a terror cell in Mosul . The defendant said he believes in killing Coalition Forces, Iraqi Police and Iraqi National Guard members because he says they are not enforcing God's will. The defendant has regularly kidnapped people, interrogated them and then killed them, frequently in front of their families. He has attacked Iraqi Police stations with sniper shots and RPGs, stolen their computers and weapons and set the stations on fire. The defendant confessed to the murder of an Iraqi National Guard colonel in order to discourage people from supporting the Iraqi government.
The trial court found Kareem Abdellah Sabbar, Munzir Ali Khamis, Qasey Hamid Abid and Khaleel Abid Al-Hussein Ali guilty of violating Article 194 of the IPC for joining armed groups to endanger innocent people's lives and to unsettle the stability and security of the state of Iraq . They were also found guilty of violating Article 27 of the IPC for possession of illegal weapons and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended them after searching their house where they found five 122mm mortars, five functional charges, a burlap sack with five types of rounds and increments for other mortars and one AK-47 with four magazines. Coalition Forces returned to the site the next day and completed a detailed search of the property where they found a kidnapped Egyptian man who had been held there for 18 days and had been severely beaten and tortured. The Egyptian man positively identified one of the defendants as one of his captors. Coalition troops also discovered more than 15,000 machine gun rounds, mortar rounds, IED-making material, grenades, one machine gun, mortar tubes, RPGs with ammunition, and AK-47 ammunition less than 50 meters away from the house.
The trial court found Saddaa Sayed Mohammed guilty of violating Article 10 of the Iraqi Passport Laws for illegal entry into Iraq and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him after searching a suspected insurgent safe house. The defendant is Syrian and entered Iraq to fight the Coalition.
The trial court found Hamad Hassan Fadel and Athab Hussein Fadel guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for possession of illegal weapons and sentenced them to 10 years imprisonment each. Coalition Forces apprehended both defendants in a vehicle after engaging them in a firefight involving small arms and RPGs. Coalition troops conducted a search of the vehicle where they found a dead body as well as two AK-47s, one PKM machine gun, an RPG launcher, explosives, nine full magazines, four grenades and multiple RPG rounds.
The trial court found Ali Mohammed Ali guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for possession of illegal weapons and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him after searching his home where they found one rocket-propelled grenade launcher and three RPG rockets. The defendant resisted arrest and attempted to flee his house.
The trial court found Mohammed Rumayed Hassan guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for possession of illegal weapons and sentenced him to six years imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him after searching his home where they found potential IED-making devices, including five 60mm mortars, a cell phone, five phone bases, wire, circuit boards and a washing machine timer.
The trial court found Abbas Fadel Muslet guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for possession of illegal weapons and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him after searching his home and business where they found three AK-47s and multiple rounds of ammunition.
The trial court found Saeed Ridah Nour guilty of violating Article 10 of the Iraqi Passport Laws for illegal entry into Iraq and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. Coalition Force and the Iraqi National Guard apprehended him at a vehicle checkpoint because he did not have a passport. The defendant is Iranian and claimed that he was going to Karbala to meet 25 Iranian friends.
Upon conviction, all defendants are turned over to the Iraqi Corrections Service to serve their sentences.
To date, the CCCI has held 1069 trials of insurgents suspected of anti-Iraqi and anti-Coalition activities threatening the security of Iraq and targeting MNF-I. These proceedings have resulted in 960 individual convictions with sentences ranging up to death.
Upon initiating the attack, the troops immediately killed two terrorists in response to hostile activity emanating from a suspected safe house and an associated vehicle.
Only trying to preserve their own lives, escaping terrorists literally threw a toddler inside a vehicle near a burning van filled with ammunition and anti-aircraft rockets (the safe house and vehicle were previously struck by Coalition forces to neutralize the threat). The troops made the choice to save the child in lieu of pursuing the terrorists, rescuing the boy just before the rockets exploded.
The troops took custody of the two-year-old and provided him security for almost an hour before they could safely return him to his mother. The boy and his mother were residing in a nearby safe house from where the terrorists originally fled and had abandoned other women and children.
Coalition forces previously reported that three females - one child, one teenager, and one adult - were injured in the initial raid; the youngest only required on-site treatment, the two older females were medically evacuated. As troops transported the two injured females and an unharmed maternal escort to the hospital, the terrorists attempted to shoot down the departing medical sortie (there was no red cross, the helicopter was being used as a medical evacuation transport to expedite care).
The pilots averted the small arms fire and safely delivered the two injured females and their escort the 10th CSH where the wounded were provided further treatment. Both females received additional medical care and were released from the hospital May 15th. Link to story: troops save child
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