By Maj. Randall Baucom, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
Jul 29, 2007 - 3:00:23 PM

Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment found five weapons caches near the Tall Yusuf village of Abu Ghraib, Iraq July 26 as part of a major operation to eliminate the ability of insurgent groups to use the area as a staging ground for attacks into central Baghdad. Pictured above are just a few of the weapons confiscated in the operation. Co. A Soldiers worked with troops from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment during the operation in which a kidnapping victim was also rescued and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device factory was also discovered.(U.S. Army photo)

Blackanthem Military News

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers located multiple weapons and munitions caches, located a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device factory and rescued a kidnapping victim in northwest Baghdad July 26.

While conducting patrols in the area around Tall Yusuf village of Abu Ghraib, Soldiers form Company A, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment from the 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division located five weapons and munitions caches. The caches consisted of mortars, anti-aircraft guns with ammunition, containers filled with high explosives, and other improvised explosive device-making material. The weapons, ammunition, and IED material were destroyed by an explosive ordnance disposal team.

Battery C, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Battalion conducted an air assault to relieve Co. A, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment at the cache sites and continued to patrol the area. While conducting their patrol the Soldiers discovered a VBIED factory, which contained several vehicles in different stages of completion.

While searching the building, a kidnapping victim was discovered. The victim claimed he was kidnapped in the Abu Ghraib area after visiting his relatives there. He said the persons responsible were agents of Al Qaeda, and they had kidnapped him because they believed he was a spy for the “1920 Brigade.” The 1920 Brigade is a former Sunni group that had rejected the government of Iraqi, but has recently made overtures to reconcile with the government and the Coalition to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq. The victim claims he had been kidnapped for almost four days, and that he had been tortured.

After the man had been rescued, Battery C, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Battalion requested aviation assets destroy the vehicles and the building which was being used as a car bomb factory. Aviators from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cav. Div., destroyed the vehicles and a fixed-wing aircraft dropped a 500-pound bomb to destroy the building.

Battery C, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Battalion evacuated the kidnapping victim by helicopter back to Camp Taji where his wounds were assessed by Coalition doctors. Noting that the victim had no serious injuries, Soldiers from the 115th Brigade Support Battalion, convoyed the victim to Camp Liberty. From there, Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavarly Regiment returned the man to Abu Ghraib to be reunited with his family.

The 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division is conducting Operation Iron Blitz, a series of missions in northwest Baghdad, to eliminate the ability of Al Qaeda and rogue Jaysh al Mahdi special groups to use the area as a staging ground for attacks into central Baghdad.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a machine gun with rounds, pictured above, were just some of the weapons Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment uncovered in six different weapons caches near the Tall Yusuf village of Abu Ghraib, Iraq July 26. (U.S. Army photo)

After being kidnapped by insurgents and later rescued by Multi-National Division-Baghdad troops, an Iraqi man (left) relates his grueling ordeal to Soldiers from the 115th Brigade Support Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment on Camp Liberty, Iraq July 27. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment found and rescued the man while assisting troops from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment during an operation to find weapons caches near Abu Ghraib July 26. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)

1st Lt. Clay Hardwick of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment reassures an Iraqi man with a pat on the back on Camp Liberty, Iraq July 27 a day after the man was rescued from insurgents by Coalition Forces. While on his way to see a family member in Abu Ghraib, the man was taken hostage by insurgents. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment rescued the man and Soldiers from the 2nd Bn., 5th Cav. Regt. are currently in the process of taking the man home to awaiting relatives. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)

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