Soldiers deter IED strike, detain emplacers

ISKANDARIYAH, IRAQ

04.23.2008

Courtesy Story

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

By 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Coalition forces detained three Iraqi men in the early morning hours of, April 23, after two of the three were spotted emplacing an improvised explosive device on a main supply route.

Just before midnight, April 22, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets witnessed two men emplacing an IED on the shoulder of the road. The ISR assets then saw the men on a nearby rooftop, over-watching the IED position as a coalition convoy approached.

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division worked with their battle space neighbors, the 3rd BCT, 101st Airborne Division, to stop the convoy before it struck the IED and to pursue the men who planted the roadside bomb.

A few minutes past midnight, April 23, Battery D, 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, confirmed the bomb's location, stopping the convoy before it hit the pressure-operated IED.

The suspected insurgents were seen moving through an open field to a house. Soldiers from Troop B, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment pursued the men and raided the house. They detained the two suspects along with another man who was in the building.

Currency worth approximately $80,000 dollars - including $30,000 in U.S. dollars - was found with the detainees. The detainees are being held for questioning.

The IED was detonated while under examination by the route clearance team from 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. No injuries or damage resulted from the detonation.

• Date Taken: 04.23.2008
• Date Posted: 04.23.2008 15:34
• Story ID: 18703
• Location: ISKANDARIYAH, IQ