Troops find numerous bombs in Diyala

Troops find numerous bombs in Diyala
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, January 14, 2008

Coalition forces killed four insurgents, held 24 people and discovered numerous bombs of different types in the Diyala River Valley in the past week, U.S. officials say.

The efforts were part of Operation Raider Harvest, which is part of the countrywide Operation Phantom Phoenix, designed to root out insurgencies driven out by the “surge” of troops in central Iraq.

In the valley, forces discovered and cleared 13 bombs, 10 car bombs, four houses rigged with bombs and 15 weapons caches since last Tuesday.

In Sherween Village alone, a small community about 35 miles northeast of Baqouba, coalition forces discovered four weapons caches and a structure locals confirmed had been used as an al-Qaida in Iraq prison and torture facility, although not recently.

The forces destroyed four buildings that were rigged with explosives and a river-crossing point used by insurgents, officials said. Several bombs were found and destroyed on roadways during the operation.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51617