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| Iraq |
| 4th Infantry Division Operations |
| 2004-02-02 |
| TIKRIT, Iraq - A former sheik of Mukayshifa, targeted for capture by Coalition forces, came to a forward operating base near the town and surrendered to U.S. soldiers in the morning of Jan. 31. The individual was sought because he is suspected of financing attacks against Coalition forces. A patrol from B Company, 299th Engineer Battalion went to the former sheik’s residence and confiscated one shotgun, one rifle and ammunition for the weapons. --An Iraqi boy led a patrol from 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment to the site of an improvised explosive device emplacement five kilometers northwest of Duluiyah in the morning of Jan. 31. The soldiers located the emplacement and requested assistance from the Moldovan explosive ordinance disposal team working in the area. The team destroyed the IED. The patrol continued to search the area and found and confiscated two boxes of TNT and two boxes of 14.5mm anti-aircraft ammunition. --One attacker was killed after he fired at a C Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment patrol in the afternoon of Jan. 31, five kilometers southeast of Balad. Soldiers retuned fire and struck the attacker as he attempted to flee into a wooded area. An AK-47 assault rifle was recovered from the scene. One other individual was captured in the vicinity of the initial attack. --As soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery were patrolling an area three kilometers west of Duluiyah in the afternoon of Jan. 3, they came under rocket-propelled grenade attack. The soldiers saw two vehicles leaving the scene at a high rate of speed. Soldiers fired on the autos in an attempt to disable them and wounded one of the attackers. The others in the vehicles fled on foot as a nearby artillery battery fired rounds in support of the patrol. The wounded attacker was captured and was evacuated to 21st Combat Support Hospital. He is in critical but stable condition. --While on patrol, pilots of an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter saw three men loading rockets onto a flatbed truck in the afternoon of Jan. 31 five kilometers southeast of Balad. When the helicopter passed overhead the men tried to flee in the truck they were using. The pilots pursued and called for assistance from a 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment patrol. The enemy continued their efforts to elude but eventually abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. The patrol was able to capture one of the three and confiscated the truck. The rockets the men were trying to load were later destroyed. --Another helicopter crew spotted an ammunition cache consisting of 200 100mm artillery shells in the morning of Jan. 31, 150 meters west of Highway One near Bayji. The AH-64 Apache pilot called for assistance, and a patrol from B Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Regiment responded and located and secured the site. The munitions are scheduled for destruction. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |