Informant tip yields weapons cache

Courtesy Photo | 1st Lt. Casey Zimmerman, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division digs alongside Army Soldiers to uncover mortar rounds in Shubayshen, April 16.  

IRAQ

04.16.2008

Courtesy Story

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

By Capt. Michael Starz
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

YUSFIYAH, Iraq - A tip from an informant led U.S. and Iraqi army soldiers to a weapons cache in Shubayshen village, south of Baghdad, April 16.

Soldiers from 4th Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th IA Division and Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, conducted a search through the area until they came upon the site described by the informant.

Finding the cache, the Soldiers spent several hours digging up the munitions, which consisted of approximately 600 tank rounds.

First Sgt. Roy Bruce, senior enlisted member of Company C, said positions established in the area with Operation Marne Piledriver emboldened the informant to come forward.

"The informant told us that al-Qaida in Iraq emplaced this cache last year and that he finally felt safe enough due to IA presence to reveal the cache," said 1st Lt. Bo Alf, Company C intelligence officer.

"The informant, his family and neighbors told us of the false promises of al-Qaida and how they want to return to the fold of the government of Iraq."

Marne Piledriver is an ongoing Multi-National Division - Center operation focused on capacity-building projects throughout the area of operations of 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. During the operation, Iraqi security forces are taking the lead in targeting remaining insurgent pockets with the help of coalition forces.

• Date Taken: 04.16.2008
• Date Posted: 04.23.2008 12:38
• Story ID: 18685
• Location: IQ