Gunship Attack Kills Iraqi Terrorists; Bomb-Making Cache Found

(2005-09-06) American Forces Press Service

Unable to suppress a barrage of machine gun and rocket propelled grenade fire from insurgents holed up in a mosque in the Sarai district of Tal Afar, Iraq, coalition forces called in helicopter gunships to stop the enemy salvo, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported today.

Seven terrorists were killed in the Sept. 4 helicopter counterattack at a mosque in eastern Tal Afar described as a Takfirist meeting place. No injuries to U.S. personnel were reported, officials noted.

When Iraqi police recently moved in to search a black car with two men inside that they'd stopped at a checkpoint, they found a wounded insurgent and another terrorist trying to eat a note that described an attack on a coalition forces' forward operating base, officials said.

The car was also loaded with bomb-making materials, including five telephone receivers, six radios, two cell phones, one wired to a radio, six washing machine timers, five extended-range antennae and batteries. The men also had $1,400 in $100 U.S. bills, according to officials.

The Iraqi police and soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division made the discovery after hastily setting up a traffic checkpoint to search cars coming from the direction of automatic-weapons fire. The Task Force Baghdad soldiers were conducting security operations north of Baghdad when they joined with Iraqi police in capturing the terrorists, officials said.

The wounded terrorist was taken to a hospital for treatment. Both men were detained for further questioning. In other news in Iraq, officials said U.S. forces discovered an improvised explosive device-making cache north of Forward Operating Base Kalsu Sept. 4.

The cache included 122mm artillery rounds, 82mm mortar rounds and spools of electrical wire.

The soldiers are assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 155th Brigade Combat Team, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

In another incident, a Task Force Liberty helicopter crew made a controlled landing near Tuz early Sept. 4. Hostile fire wasn't associated with the emergency landing, officials in Tikrit reported today.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq Combined Press Information Center and 4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office news releases)