BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers kept the pressure on rogue criminal elements in the greater Baghdad area May 7-8, engaging IED emplacers and armed individuals and discovering weapons caches.

At approximately 10:40 a.m. May 7, Iraqi Police from 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi National Police Division, and soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were attacked by criminals using rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in Adhamiyah. An aerial weapons team was called in to assist. The AWT fired one Hellfire missile and killed two Special Groups criminals.

At approximately 11:40 a.m., west of Baghdad, soldiers from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, discovered three mortar rounds, four grenades, a land mine and numerous blasting caps.
At approximately 3 p.m. in Kadhamiyah, Iraqi Army soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, discovered a substantial weapons cache, which consisted of 53 blocks of C4, two 107 mm rockets, an 82 mm mortar round, several rocket rails, six grenades and highly-detailed maps of Baghdad.

Soldiers also found several items used to make improvised explosive devices and explosively formed projectiles, including seven 10-inch copper plates, three four-inch copper plates, two 100-foot pieces of detonation cord, 12 spools of wire, 10 grenade fuses, four electrical blasting caps, two supplement charges and one electrical detonator.

At approximately 7:10 p.m. in Sadr City, soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., identified individuals firing AK-47s from a building. Soldiers in an M1A2 Abrams tank fired two high-explosive rounds and killed two criminals.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., soldiers from 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., were attacked by criminals using small-arms fire in Sadr City. The soldiers returned fire and killed one criminal.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., an aerial weapons team fired a Hellfire missile and killed two criminals who were emplacing an improvised explosive device in New Baghdad.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., an AWT observed a group of armed individuals maneuvering towards dismounted soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in New Baghdad. The AWT fired a Hellfire missile and killed five criminals. The AWT fired a second Hellfire and killed four criminals who escaped the first engagement.

At approximately 1:45 a.m., two criminals were spotted by an AWT emplacing an IED in Kadhamiyah. One criminal was killed when the IED detonated while being emplaced. The second criminal fled into a residential area so the AWT did not engage him.

“The Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers continue to keep the pressure on the criminal elements who are always putting the law-abiding people of Baghdad at risk,” said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff, MND-B and the 4th Inf. Div.