Air assault nets 13 suspected insurgents

Air assault nets 13 suspected insurgents
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, November 26, 2007


SALMAN PAK, Iraq — A pre-dawn air assault Sunday by members of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment ended with the capture of 13 suspected insurgents, possibly including the No. 1 “high-value target” in the battalion’s area.

Some 40 soldiers sprang from Black Hawk helicopters around 4 a.m., raiding two compounds in a village of about 5,000 people near Salman Pak, southeast of Baghdad. Within minutes, the soldiers had gathered all the men they’d seized, questioning them and comparing their faces to a description and sketch of the target.

One of the men detained was the target’s father; soldiers believed that one of the other men in custody was either the man’s brother or the target himself.

“It’s not over till it’s over, but we’re happy so far,” Lt. Col. Jack Marr, battalion commander, said as the soldiers waited in the nearby cornfield for the helicopters to fly the soldiers and detainees back from the raid site.

While violence in other areas of Iraq has declined, the region around Salman Pak has remained one of the most dangerous for American troops and Iraqi civilians.

U.S. military officials say a mix of Sunni extremists — with alleged ties to al-Qaida in Iraq — and a network of Shiite militias in the area create a volatile mix. Targeted raids like Sunday’s have become a favored tactic in trying to break insurgent cells and capture their leaders.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50513