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Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing 1-14-2004
As a result of aggressive operations this week, the coalition announces the capture of Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad, number 54 in the coalition 55 deck-of- cards list. Khamis was captured as a result of a combined operation by the 82nd Airborne Division and Special Operations Forces. He was captured January 11th in the vicinity of Ar Ramadi and is currently in coalition custody. With the capture of number 54, we have taken another significant step in reducing anti-coalition resistance. He was an enabler for many of the resistance attacks on Iraqis as well as U.S. and coalition forces. These attacks were crimes against the Iraqi people.------- Coalition forces conducted a cordon-and-knock and detained Brigadier General Muklif, a brigade target suspected of being the leader of a local terrorist group. No injuries or accidents were reported as part of this capture. ------- Coalition and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps forces conducted a raid near Jabal targeting Karim Hamid Khalil, a Sunni imam, acting on a tip from a local Iraqi, given to the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. The imam apparently brought a man in from in Fallujah to speak during prayer call. The broadcast from the mosque told Iraqis to attack coalition forces, ICDC and Iraqi police. The Civil Defense Corps apprehended the imam but was not able to capture the second target. ------- While on patrol southwest of Samarra, coalition forces were attacked by a large group of enemy fighters. Twenty-six persons were captured, eight killed and one wounded in the engagement. There were no coalition casualties. ------- This morning in Baqubah, a car bomb detonated near an Iraqi police station, killing five people and wounding 29 others. Two Iraqi police officers, one Iraqi Civil Defense Corps member and two civilians were listed among the dead. An initial investigation indicated that an improvised explosive device, consisting of an artillery round and grenades, was placed in a small automobile and parked near the police station. Two additional improvised explosive devices were found near the scene of the explosion and were disarmed. ------- In Baghdad, coalition and Iraqi security forces conducted 490 patrols and captured three enemy personnel. Coalition forces discovered a bomb consisting of 155-millimeter artillery round with PE-4 rigged with a pager. The unit searched the area and captured one Iraqi with a strip map on its person, and on that strip map was the location of where the bomb was placed. A vapor tracer 2 test was used, and the prisoner tested positive for nitrates and the vehicle tested positive for other explosive items. ------- Coalition forces in the west conducted a cordon-and-search in Fallujah to kill or capture Amin Jasim Sahab and Major General Mahmoud. Both primary targets were captured. Sahab is a former Farah level Baâath party member, and is believed to be responsible for inciting anti-coalition activities in the Fallujah area; while Major General Mahmoud is an anti-coalition cell leader, and reportedly has direct ties to the former regime leader Saddam Hussein. Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-01-15 |
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