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| Iraq |
| Coalition Forces Conduct Raid in Sadr City |
| 2006-11-20 |
| Coalition Forces Conduct Raid in Iraq BAGHDAD (AP) — Coalition forces conducted a raid Monday in Sadr City, the stronghold of a Shiite militia suspected of having kidnapped scores of civilians. Iraqi forces searched and damaged a mosque during the operation Monday, but made no arrests, the U.S. military said. The Iraqi forces, acting with the assistance of U.S. military advisers, also destroyed a vehicle near the mosque that was posing a threat to the ground forces, the coalition said. Iraqi and U.S. forces suffered no casualties. In Sadr City, an official at the main office of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said several homes were searched and three Iraqis arrested during the 3 a.m. raid but that no clashes or casualties resulted. The military said Monday's operation was called in the large Shiite slum of eastern Baghdad to search for a cell of more than 30 Iraqis who are "responsible for kidnapping, torturing and murdering Iraqi civilians and soldiers," the military said. It said the cell allegedly used the mosque compound as a place to conduct such crimes and store weapons. The mosque was only slightly damaged during the raid, the coalition said in a statement. On Saturday, Iraqi soldiers backed by U.S. helicopters swept into Sadr City after intelligence indicated that an armed group was holding some of the scores of Iraqis who were snatched from a Higher Education Ministry office building in Baghdad last week. The Americans said the raid was conducted to rescue captives and disrupt kidnapping and insurgent cells. Three Iraqis were reportedly wounded but no hostages were found. On Nov. 14, gunmen dressed in Interior Ministry commando uniforms abducted about 150 men from the central Baghdad office that handles academic grants and exchanges. The men were handcuffed and driven away in about 20 pickup trucks. About half were released that night and the next day, a government minister said. A Sunni who said he was among the freed hostages claimed the kidnappers broke his arm. He said he saw them kill at least three hostages after taking them to empty houses in Sadr City. A rogue cell from the Mahdi Army militia also is suspected of having captured an Iraqi-American soldier last month. Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, a 41-year-old reserve soldier from Ann Arbor, Mich., was visiting his Iraqi wife in Baghdad on Oct. 23 when gunmen handcuffed him and took him away. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #2 Coalition Forces Conduct Raid in Sadr City Sadr City is the wrong City... head South and East to Najaf, Karbala Basra and Iran for Tater and Abdul Mehdi Bader SCRI. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-11-20 14:27 |
| #1 "rogue cell" huh? I guess a "rogue operation" that killed Tater would not be our fault? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-11-20 07:38 |