Another Rough day in Iraq

Operations Continue in Iraq, Afghanistan
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2004 – Insurgent attacks in Baghdad and Mosul have killed at least 25 Iraqis, according to news reports.
A car bomb detonated near the Al Karkh Iraqi police station in central Baghdad today. News reports said a suicide bomber rammed a minibus packed with explosives into a police station near the Green Zone, killing eight Iraqi police officers and wounding 38.
Meanwhile, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a suicide bomber struck a convoy of Kurdish militiamen near an American military base, killing at least 18 and wounding 15, news reports indicated.
Iraqi security forces have become the "target of choice" for insurgents. Officials said the attacks are part of the insurgents' campaign to intimidate the Iraqi population and instill fear in them.
Also in Mosul, insurgents launched a large-scale ambush of a Stryker patrol along a 2-kilometer stretch of road with eight to 10 roadside bombs and an estimated 70 insurgent fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47 assault rifles and machine guns. A patrol from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment quickly maneuvered to engage the insurgents and later broke contact to conduct a deliberate offensive operation to clear the ambush site of insurgent fighters.
Soon after, coalition and Iraqi forces launched an attack to restrict the freedom of movement of insurgent fighters and clear the pockets of resistance. While clearing the area, soldiers received heavy fire from a mosque. Iraqi security forces cleared the mosque, eliminating the enemy while finding a large cache of weapons that consisted of RPG rounds, anti-tank grenades and machine guns.
One soldier was killed and five wounded in an improvised explosive device attack in Baghdad today. The incident is under investigation. In Afghanistan, citizens turned in two weapons caches and coalition forces found another six , Dec. 3. The Nesh District police chief turned in a weapons cache to coalition forces near Tarin Kowt containing seven recoilless rifles, 65 RPGs, 77 RPG boosters, one 7.62 M25 rifle and two RPG launchers.
A local citizen led forces to a cache near Shinkay. That cache contained 35 82 mm projectiles, 265 82 mm mortars, 104 boxes of Dishka machine gun ammunition, 37 mines, 29 mine fuses, four hand grenades, 28 grenade fuses, one bag and five cans of charges, 25 82 mm high explosive rounds, one 75 mm heat fuse, 128 M-6 rocket fuses, three 82 mm mortar rounds, and five bags of Dishka machine gun rounds. Other caches were found near Bagram Air Base, Kandahar, Zormat and Bamian.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases, and news reports.)
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2004 – Insurgent attacks in Baghdad and Mosul have killed at least 25 Iraqis, according to news reports.
A car bomb detonated near the Al Karkh Iraqi police station in central Baghdad today. News reports said a suicide bomber rammed a minibus packed with explosives into a police station near the Green Zone, killing eight Iraqi police officers and wounding 38.
Meanwhile, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a suicide bomber struck a convoy of Kurdish militiamen near an American military base, killing at least 18 and wounding 15, news reports indicated.
Iraqi security forces have become the "target of choice" for insurgents. Officials said the attacks are part of the insurgents' campaign to intimidate the Iraqi population and instill fear in them.
Also in Mosul, insurgents launched a large-scale ambush of a Stryker patrol along a 2-kilometer stretch of road with eight to 10 roadside bombs and an estimated 70 insurgent fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47 assault rifles and machine guns. A patrol from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment quickly maneuvered to engage the insurgents and later broke contact to conduct a deliberate offensive operation to clear the ambush site of insurgent fighters.
Soon after, coalition and Iraqi forces launched an attack to restrict the freedom of movement of insurgent fighters and clear the pockets of resistance. While clearing the area, soldiers received heavy fire from a mosque. Iraqi security forces cleared the mosque, eliminating the enemy while finding a large cache of weapons that consisted of RPG rounds, anti-tank grenades and machine guns.
One soldier was killed and five wounded in an improvised explosive device attack in Baghdad today. The incident is under investigation. In Afghanistan, citizens turned in two weapons caches and coalition forces found another six , Dec. 3. The Nesh District police chief turned in a weapons cache to coalition forces near Tarin Kowt containing seven recoilless rifles, 65 RPGs, 77 RPG boosters, one 7.62 M25 rifle and two RPG launchers.
A local citizen led forces to a cache near Shinkay. That cache contained 35 82 mm projectiles, 265 82 mm mortars, 104 boxes of Dishka machine gun ammunition, 37 mines, 29 mine fuses, four hand grenades, 28 grenade fuses, one bag and five cans of charges, 25 82 mm high explosive rounds, one 75 mm heat fuse, 128 M-6 rocket fuses, three 82 mm mortar rounds, and five bags of Dishka machine gun rounds. Other caches were found near Bagram Air Base, Kandahar, Zormat and Bamian.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases, and news reports.)