VBIED discovered, two detained

ISKANDARIYAH, IRAQ

01.29.2008

Courtesy Story

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was destroyed by an air weapons team, Jan. 27, in Arab Jabour.

Soldiers from Scout Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Ga., discovered the truck after a report from Concerned Local Citizens.

Scout platoon, platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Ramone Manzano, said his Soldiers acted on intelligence from Concerned Local Citizens group members in the area who reported stopping two men driving a potential VBIED.

The men were driving a blue truck into northern Arab Jabour when they were stopped by the CLCs. Upon arriving on the scene, the Scouts took over the investigation.

Manzano said he opened the driver-side door and noticed two wires running underneath the seat leading toward the truck's engine block. Suspecting a VBIED, he separated the men and questioned them.

The pair's stories about what they were doing did not match up, Manzano said. Both matched the unit's intelligence descriptions of potential insurgents and tests concluded that both men had explosive residue on them.

The suspects were detained for questioning, while Soldiers called in an air weapons team of Apache helicopters, which destroyed the vehicle with a Hellfire missile and 100 rounds of 30 mm munitions.

Describing the find as a big event, Manzano, a native of Neptune, N.J., said this was the first time his Soldiers have actually encountered a VBIED.

By taking out the threat, Manzano said it will go a long way in keeping the area safe

The CLCs have done a lot to make the area safer, Manzano said. "They play a big role in our effort. They help us (identify) al-Qaida and point out the bad guys."

• Date Taken: 01.29.2008
• Date Posted: 01.29.2008 14:16
• Story ID: 15895
• Location: ISKANDARIYAH, IQ