Multi-National Division – Baghdad troops opened fire on insurgents emplacing a roadside bomb, killing three and wounding at least one more July 21 during continuing clearing operations in the Rashid District.Troops from Company B, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, witnessed five men out after curfew excavating a hole by the side of the road in a Doura neighborhood of southern Baghdad. The location was an area historically used by insurgents to employ deep-buried improvised explosive devices against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.
When one of the men was positively identified with an AK-47 assault rifle and appeared to be pulling security for the other diggers, the troops requested permission to engage.
After investigating the area where the insurgents were digging, the troopers found three bodies, the assault rifle, a pistol, two shovels and an axe. They also identified blood trails leading south.
Under Iraqi law, citizens are permitted to keep one AK-47 and a full 30-round magazine in their homes for protection. Handguns or weapons heavier than an assault rifle are not allowed.