IRAQ: NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS IN HILLA ARREST ONE HUNDRED SUSPECTED INSURGENTS IN RAID ON TRAINING CAMP.

Record ID: 584753

  • Title: IRAQ: NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS IN HILLA ARREST ONE HUNDRED SUSPECTED INSURGENTS IN RAID ON TRAINING CAMP.
  • Date: 26th March 2005
  • Summary: (BN 13) HILLA, IRAQ (MARCH 26, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS/EXTERIOR: OF NATIONAL GUARD HEADQUARTERS IN HILLA. 0.05 2. MV: NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS. 0.10 3. CU: SIGN READING: 22ND INFANTRY BRIGADE. 0.15 4. MV: INTERIOR BASE: PULL OUT FROM UNIT EMBLEM TO REST OF ROOM. 0.22 5. WS: COLONEL HUSAJN ALI HASSUN WITH OFFICERS SEATED AROUND TABLE. 0.28 6. VARIOUS: OF STILL PICTURES OF THE ARRESTED SUSPECTS AND SEIZED WEAPONS. (12 SHOTS) 1.00 7. VARIOUS: POLICEMAN SHOWING COPY OF KORAN FOUND WITH SUSPECTS. (2 SHOTS) 1.16 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BRIGADIER GENERAL, OTHMAN FARHUD, SAYING: "The duties we performed today were aimed against those who were planning attacks on pilgrims of the holy shrine in Karbala. Those terrorists aimed to start a sectarian conflict between the Sunni and Shi'ite in Iraq." 1.40 9. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COLONEL HUSAJN ALI HASSUN, SAYING: "The aim of this operation was to prevent those terrorists from getting among the pilgrims of the Arbain (Muslim religious holiday on March 31). (off camera question) The area where we captured... 2.25 10. VARIOUS: IRAQI NATIONAL GUARDS CHECKPOINT. (3 SHOTS) 2.42 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HILLA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVABJDWAG7J6B1L9RK8OZ6FSLR4J
  • Story Text: Iraqi forces arrest 131 suspected insurgents in raid.



    Iraqi soldiers backed by U.S. helicopters killed
    several suspected insurgents and arrested 131 more in a
    dawn raid on Saturday (March 26), capturing tonnes of
    explosives earmarked for attacks on the holy city of
    Kerbala, officials said.

    Earlier this week Iraqi police commandos said they
    killed 85 militants in a raid on a suspected insurgent
    training camp near Baghdad, hailing it as a breakthrough
    against the insurgency.

    Several suspected militants were killed in the latest
    operation, which began late on Friday and culminated in the
    dawn raid just outside Kerbala, about 100 km (60 miles)
    southwest of Baghdad.

    The vast majority of the 131 captured were Iraqis,
    although officials said many faked Iraqi identification
    papers were also found. It was not clear how many people
    were killed.

    Kerbala, an important Shi'ite Muslim holy city, has
    been targeted by militants several times in the past. Next
    week it will draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from
    throughout the region for Arbain, a major mourning
    ceremony.

    "The duties we performed today were aimed against those
    who were planning attacks on pilgrims of the holy shrine in
    Karbala. Those terrorists aimed to start a sectarian
    conflict between the Sunni and Shii'te in Iraq," Brigadier
    General Othman Farhud, who commanded Iraqi troops in this
    operation, told Reuters.

    According to the defence ministry, many of those
    detained were from Ansar al-Sunna, a militant group based
    in northern Iraq, near the border with Iran, that has
    carried out several high-profile attacks over the past 18
    months.

    Seized along with the suspects were three tonnes of TNT
    explosive, at least three ready-made car bombs, hundreds of
    rocket-propelled grenades, several Katyusha rockets, more
    than 250,000 rounds of ammunition and other equipment.

    In terms of the number of people detained and the
    amount of weaponry seized, it marks one of the most
    successful Iraqi-run operations in the past two years. Iraqi
    offici
    als say their intelligence network is
    improving, while Iraqi security forces are also growing
    stronger, giving them fresh impetus in the battle against
    the two-year-old insurgency.
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