1st Battalion 22nd Infantry News Articles October

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

BREAKING NEWS

October 2003

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From CentCom News Release: October 26, 2003

UH-60 HELICOPTER HIT WITH RPG, DOWNED

BAGHDAD, Iraq - On 25 Oct, at approximately 4 p.m., one of two UH-60 “Black Hawk” helicopters assigned to the 3-158th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, while performing a reconnaissance mission in the vicinity of Tikrit, was hit in one of its engines by a rocket propelled grenade.

The crew was able to perform a controlled emergency landing. However, once on the ground the helicopter caught fire and was destroyed. All five members of the crew were able to exit the aircraft and move to safety. One of the crew suffered minor leg injuries due to shrapnel. The second UH-60 landed and picked up the crew and flew them to an aid station. The wounded soldier was treated and returned to duty.

Two AH-64D Apache helicopters in the area were given the location where the engagement took place. Upon their arrival, they observed two vehicles appearing to flee the area. The vehicles were forced to stop, and 1-22d Infantry personnel took an unknown number of suspects into custody.

The remainder of the downed aircraft was removed by elements of the 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

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4th Infantry troops raid farming community

October 23, 2003 By Katarina Kratovac
The Associated Press

TIKRIT, Iraq — Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division detained several suspects, including one former major general in Saddam Hussein's army, during raids across the division's sector, U.S. officials said.

In raids around Tikrit, the deposed dictator's hometown, troops arrested several people believed involved in attacks against U.S. forces, U.S. officials said.

Officers in Baqouba said a major general, who was not identified, was picked up in a raid around that city, which is 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the Fort Hood-based division's sector.

The area around Tikrit has been the scene of increased attacks on U.S. troops, which coalition forces blame on die-hard Saddam supporters and members of his Fedayeen militia.

Ten suspects were detained in the raid in the Tikrit area, including six "targeted individuals," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the division's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.

The remaining four were taken into custody for questioning or because weapons were found on their property, Russell said.

"We believe we have some individuals involved in attacks on coalition forces and also involved in the wounding and death of some of our soldiers earlier this summer," Russell said after the raid.

Backed by Bradley fighting vehicles and tanks, the troops swept into the village of Hamra near Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad, just a couple of hours before dawn.

They searched through five houses in the village, about 12 miles northwest of Tikrit. More than two dozen men from the brick dwellings were brought out to a dusty yard where they sat on the ground, hands behind their backs, under guard.

Women and children were allowed to remain in the homes.

Establishing identities of the suspects proved difficult as the men appeared uncooperative by the pre-dawn blitz.

The troops then searched the area surrounding the houses and found a crate of heavy weapons buried in a cow pen. A rocket-propelled grenade launcher was found under a haystack, a sackful of grenades was hidden in a tree and a collection of bomb-making material was discovered in a chicken coop.

Russell said his convoys have been attacked periodically by such grenades, packed with C4 explosive. A bucket of dynamite, army visors, binoculars and Kalashnikov rifles — old German-made machine guns — were found inside the houses. There was also a framed photograph of Saddam.

"We won't know the magnitude of what we have found until we question them thoroughly," Russell said, adding that the weapons find may not have been large in quantity but was "certainly unusual."

During brief interrogations carried out with the help of two interpreters at the raid site, the suspects repeatedly stated that they "know nothing." Another suspect, limping and in pain over a swollen ankle, which a paramedic said was broken, tried to instruct the rest not to cooperate.

The detainees left the house in a truck with white hoods over their heads.

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U.S. Soldiers Train Iraq's Future Troops

By KATARINA KRATOVAC
Associated Press Writer

October 20, 2003
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP)--Four men in green overalls with Iraqi flags for shoulder patches haul an American soldier from his pickup truck, throw him face down in the dust, then point a Kalashnikov rifle at his head.

The four, all smiling, then help the American to his feet. ``Good job,'' says Lt. Israel Guzman from Puerto Rico. It's all part of training for Iraq's new Civil Defense Corps, which the Americans hope will provide internal security in this country still in turmoil six months after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

In the exercise, the American in the pickup was portrayed as a fugitive thief.

The Iraqi trainees, all in their 20s or early 30s, are beginning a three-week training course here in Saddam's hometown about 120 miles north of Baghdad. They come from across the predominantly Sunni Muslim area--farmers from nearby villages, former conscripts in Saddam's 400,000-strong Iraqi army and even a few former junior officers.

``I wanted to do something good for Iraq,'' said Tahir al-Shamri, 27, one of the trainees, as he sat on the pavement. Mosquitos and sand flies buzzed around his feet.

The training camp surrounds one of Saddam's luxury villas on an island in the Tigris River, across from the walled-in compound of the former ruler's gaudy marble palaces that now serve as the main U.S. base in Tikrit.

During the course, the Iraqis live the life of a military recruit, cleaning toilets, keeping the area free of litter and helping out in the kitchen. Bedtime is 10 p.m. sharp.

Training includes marching, cleaning weapons, manning checkpoints and map reading.

``We are building them into squad level first,'' said Lt. Col. Steve Russell of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, which is conducting the training. ``Eventually, they will evolve and one day, we will hand them over to Iraqi authority.''

To make sure the recruits aren't Baath Party loyalists, they are vetted by tribal leaders, sheiks and elders who are respected by the Americans. ``They are all committed to the future of Iraq,'' Russell said.

Ali Abdul Khader, 27, a trainee struggling to learn basic English, said he can't wait to ``go after Fedayeen,'' Saddam's militia believed to maintain a stronghold in the Tikrit area. The region is considered a hotbed of anti-American sentiment and has become the scene of increased attacks on U.S. troops.

He said learning about new weapons is difficult, understanding lessons in English even harder. Omar Al-Juboori, an Iraqi interpreter employed at the camp, helps with the language barrier.

Some of the men know only a word of two of English, some not even that, Al-Juboori said.

Guzman, the American lieutenant, says the difference in the skills of the trainees is a setback.

``No one is saying that 21 days is enough to make a soldier,'' Guzman added. ``But once we get them out of basic training and onto the streets, they will learn in direct experience.''

The long hours in the extended Iraqi summer heat take a toll on the concentration of the Iraqis.

In a search practice, a trainee barely pats down an American instructor, missing the gun hidden in a belt. In a swift turn, the soldier turns around and pulls it out, stunning the trainee.

In the middle of a practice session, three Iraqis walk away from the unit to kneel down and pray, oblivious to the activity going on.

Spc. Ryan Steckler, 20, of Las Vegas said the differences in the culture amaze him most during the training. The Iraqis are ``used to their women cleaning up after them. Here they have to do it themselves.''

``Implementing discipline is probably the most difficult to teach,'' Steckler said.

Steckler then pointed to a senior Iraqi man, Adnan Amin, 35, a former officer from the nearby town of Duz.

``He was in Kuwait during the Gulf War,'' said Steckler. ``I read about it in history books, and look at us, we are both here.''

AP-NY-10-20-03 0502EDT

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In Saddam's hometown, Iraqi-born U.S. linguist key to understanding die-hard supporters
KATARINA KRATOVAC
Associated Press Oct 20. 2003

TIKRIT, Iraq - Hours before daylight, the raiders of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment had just stormed a house filled with people believed linked to Saddam Hussein when a whisper filters back to the commander's vehicle: "Bring Joe in."

Inside the walled-in compound, the raiders have swept for weapons and explosives, separating the men from the women. Four suspects are kneeling on the grass in the courtyard, hands tied behind their backs, a soldier guarding each.

Enter Joseph Fred Fillmore, 40 - an Iraqi-born civilian volunteer who serves as interrogator and self-dubbed "cultural attache" for the 4th Infantry Division unit, which is based at Fort Hood, Texas.

The men are brought up, one by one. Fillmore, who changed his name when he went to the United States, questions the suspects in his native Arabic, adapting his approach to each personality. To an older man, shaking with fear, he speaks in a soothing voice. With another suspect, a Baath Party member caught lying about his identity, Joe shouts angrily.

"I try to have a soft approach to put them at ease," Fillmore told The Associated Press. "I tell them, 'I can either help you or put you in jail in Umm Qasr. I can be your brother, but if you want to be my enemy, you will see my worst side.'"

Five minutes into an interrogation, one suspect in his mid-30s, reassured by Fillmore that he will not be punished if he cooperates, admits he was a former security guard employed by Saddam's sons Odai and Qusai.

The son of an Iraqi judge who grew up in Baghdad, Fillmore has become the U.S. forces' main source of local intelligence and a key to Iraqi psychology and customs.

"Sometimes I think of myself as a cultural attache of sorts," he said.

His family left Iraq in 1974, after the Baath Party forced his father into early retirement. They settled in San Diego, California in 1980, where Fillmore graduated with degrees in political science and linguistics from San Diego State University.

Fillmore said he never thought of returning to Iraq, loving the diversity and freedom of America. But he said the savagery of Saddam's human rights abuses, his slaughter of Kurds and Shiites, shocked him and he "willingly joined the race" to Baghdad after he was contacted by the U.S. Army.

He arrived in April, as U.S. troops were fiercely battling for Baghdad International Airport."It was hard to see my Baghdad, the Baghdad of my childhood, in flames," he said.

Soon after, he was transferred 200 kilometers (120 miles) north to Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, and a hotbed of an anti-American insurgency. Fillmore became the translator and "right-hand man" for Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division.

The military blames Saddam's die-hard supporters and his Fedayeen militia for the attacks in the Sunni Triangle region that have claimed dozens of American lives since fighting ended in May.

U.S forces face an uphill battle in the area, Fillmore said. In his estimate, at least a quarter of Tikrit's population is radically set against U.S. troops.

"The sheiks and the villagers in the farming communities are fine. They accept us, but not here in Tikrit. Here they keep their distance," he said.

"We, the American troops, have no intermediary with them. There is no media here, no local television, to explain what we are doing," he added.

Before Saddam's time, Tikrit was a rural backwater, and its people considered simple folk by Baghdad residents, he said. "It is even worse now, after Saddam brainwashed them. The mentality here will be most difficult to change."

Local women swear at him, calling him "traitor." Men have nicknamed him "Gadhafi," after the despised Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Occasionally, Fillmore's pessimistic view of Tikrit takes a U-turn.

On a day patrol earlier this week, Russell and Joe walked into a shop open in one of Tikrit's more dangerous neighborhoods. The shopkeeper turned out to be a former military officer, who chose to go into the grocery business rather than face unemployment like other ex-soldiers.

"He invited us in for tea, said he would talk to us, although he considered us occupiers," Fillmore said. "Before we left, he told us, 'If you want Iraq to work, give us a Marshall plan. Finish your occupation quickly. I want to do business now.' "

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Troops pay tribute to two Hood soldiers

October 18, 2003
By Katarina Kratovac
Associated Press Writer

TIKRIT, Iraq — With Psalms and a 21-gun salute Thursday, soldiers hailed two fallen Fort Hood comrades from 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment in a memorial service at one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.

Spc. James Powell, 26, of Mark Center, Ohio, was killed Sunday when his Bradley armored vehicle struck a land mine near Beiji, 30 miles north of Tikrit.

Spc. Donald L. Wheeler, 23, of Concord, Mich., was killed in an attack Monday in downtown Tikrit, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle.

The soldiers' belonged to Fort Hood's 4th Infantry Division, which controls a large swathe of northern Iraq and is based in Tikrit during its yearlong mission.

Tikrit, the hometown of the ousted Iraqi leader, is some 120 miles north of Baghdad. It lies at the heart of the Sunni Triangle, a region stretching north and west of the Iraqi capital where most of the attacks against U.S. soldiers have taken place.

Several hundred soldiers, including those of Wheeler's Charlie Company and Powell's Bravo Company, gathered at the downtown palace for the somber ceremony.

The two soldiers' helmets were placed together with their nametags over their rifle butts, next to their boots on a small podium adorned with the U.S. flag and the regimental banner. Medals, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, were awarded posthumously to Wheeler and Powell, and placed next to their rifles.

"We mourn their loss; we honor their sacrifice," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, the battalion commander and a resident of Harker Heights.

"We will finish their mission. As long as Regulars draw breath, we shall not forget them," Russell said, invoking the regiment's motto, "Regulars by God."

Company commanders recounted how Powell had volunteered for a combat mission although he was due for home leave within days, and talked of Wheeler's "contagious smile and boundless enthusiasm."

In full battle gear, the troops stood in formation as the two soldiers' names were called out three times — with no response — in a ceremonious roll-call. A bugler played taps. Surrounded by Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks, a female soldier sang 'America the Beautiful' and 'Amazing Grace.'

Tears streaming down their cheeks, the troops then filed one by one by the podium to pay their respects.

"I shall always remember him, a big kid who gave everything he had on that dusty day," Lt. Jason Price of Troy, Ala., said of Wheeler. "It's difficult to say goodbye."

Maj. Gen. Roy Odierno, the 4th Infantry's commander, laid a division coin for excellence by the fallen soldiers' medals.

"They gave their lives for their country," Odierno told reporters after the ceremony. "These are all dedicated Americans who love their country who are here.

"But the soldiers would not have died in vain," Odierno added. "The changes I've seen that have taken place in the six months in Iraq are extraordinary. Ultimately, we will make this country a better and safer place for the Iraqis."

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Raids disrupt regime loyalists

By Spc. Bronwyn M. Meyer
October 17, 2003
TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, Oct. 17, 2003) -- Troops are taking to the streets of Saddam Hussein’s hometown to uncover a web of bank rollers, leaders, and organizers of insurgent groups responsible for hit-and-run attacks on coalition forces.

Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division, part of Task Force Ironhorse, are using novel methods to counter attacks involving explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades.

“We are targeting the cell leadership or members of the cell,” said Capt. Timothy Morrow, a 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry intelligence officer from Lewistown, Pa. “If we get the suspect, we take him out of the puzzle and this causes turmoil in the organization.”

The infantry battalion is going after the big players, bomb makers, financial backers of resistance cells and the leadership of these groups. Money apparently is very important to these groups, so the soldiers of 1-22 are intent on stopping the cash flow.

“If you pay someone $2,000 to conduct an attack, that is a significant impact on their life,” said Maj. Bryan Luke, the battalion’s operations officer and a Mobile, Ala., native.

The battalion is also going after the organizers of these groups and trying to thwart the leadership.

“We have conducted several raids against the leadership and we have disrupted them,” Luke said. “As we are more successful in disrupting activities, the frequency of the attacks will decrease.”

Although direct fire attacks have decreased in recent months, the number of IED and RPG attacks has risen, said Luke.

“There are a lot of little groups of resistance fighters” who align themselves with the old regime, Morrow said.

Coalition forces in Tikrit are moving in on these resistance leaders to end the violence that has plagued the city since the former regime fell.

Once a suspect is identified, troops move in. With a bang to the door, soldiers flood the potential insurgents’ house, and sift through every room searching for weapons and evidence.

The house is searched from top to bottom as troops try to find C-4, dynamite, blasting caps, AK-47s, and “electric components that are unusual,” said Luke.

The efforts to stop these attacks have taken on greater importance as the coalition force’s casualty toll mounts.

“I lost a good friend the other day” said Staff Sgt. Carlton Certain, a 1-22 Infantry supply sergeant and Gainesville, Fla. native. “The more bomb makers we take off the street, the safer it will be for everyone.”

The attacks are also taking a toll on the coalition forces’ mission of rebuilding Iraq, Luke said.

“If all my soldiers weren’t involved in security, they could be helping rebuild the country,” Luke said. “Revitalization of the economy is where they impact the most.”

(Editor’s note: Spc. Bronwyn M. Meyer is as member of the 367th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment a reserve unit from Columbus, Ohio. She is currently deployed to Southwest Asia with the 4th Infantry Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom)

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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

October 18, 2003
The Department of Defense announced today the death of Spc. James E. Powell, 26, of Radcliff, Ky., who was killed on October 12 in Baji, Iraq. Powell was killed when his M2/A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle struck an enemy anti-tank mine. He died as a result of his injuries.

Powell was assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
4th Infantry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas

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>From the Killeen Daily Herald, October 15, 2003

Hood soldier killed in Iraq identified

>From staff and wire reports

The Army has identified a 4th Infantry Division soldier who died Monday in Iraq.

Spc. Donald L. Wheeler died of injuries received when his unit was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Tikrit, the Defense Department stated Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Concord, Mich., native had been searching for a possible improvised explosive device when the attack occurred, the military stated.

Wheeler was assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment after joining the Army on Nov. 8, 2001. Fort Hood officials stated in a news release Tuesday that he had been assigned to the post since April 6, 2002.

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U.S. Seizes Two Linked to Saddam's Forces

By KATARINA KRATOVAC
.c The Associated Press

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers stormed three houses near Saddam Hussein's hometown on Saturday and detained four suspects, two believed linked to the ousted leader's special security force, the U.S. military said.

Also Saturday, U.S. troops of the 4th Infantry Division arrested seven suspected insurgents and seized about 50 Kalashnikov rifles during raids near Baqouba. Iraqi firefighters also extinguished a blaze at a pipeline in northern Iraq. Officials suspected sabotage.

During one of the Tikrit raids, troops questioned a man in his 50s who a U.S. commander said had worked in Saddam's Special Security Office. The agency provided security for major regime figures.

The man was led away blindfolded, his hands tied behind his back. His 15-year-old son was released.

``We are satisfied we found the individuals we wanted to,'' said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the Army's 4th Division, which is based here.

The three raids took place about six miles north of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. Raids in the area often target those suspected of financing attacks on coalition forces.

The older man was ``expected to be of great intelligence value,'' Russell said. ``We cast a wide net; sometimes we get a dolphin, sometimes we get a shark.''

A detailed search of the man's house uncovered a leather portfolio of photographs of Saddam at various official occasions. The man said he had left Baghdad shortly before the city's fall in April and had come to his family home near Tikrit.

Earlier in the week, an Iraqi informer had pointed out the three homes in walled compounds as possible locations for explosives-making, Russell said. The suspects were identified as bombmakers.

No explosives or bomb-making tools were found in the Saturday raids, but the weapons uncovered at the three sites included several Kalashnikov rifles and a shotgun. A plastic bag stuffed with Saddam-era camouflage uniforms was also found at the older man's house.

One of the other detained suspects, who said he was a former policeman assigned to an electrical company, initially tried to hide his name. After rigorous questioning, he later said he lied about it because he was afraid. He was believed to be linked to the security office.

Another said he was formerly a police guard at a radio station while the fourth detained man was allegedly a former police officer.
10/11/03 07:29 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press

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Night Raids a Staple in Saddam's Hometown

By PATRICK QUINN
Associated Press Writer
October 06, 2003

Spc. Moses Rodriguez suppressed a yawn as he eased himself onto a cushion and swung his machine gun into place on the open bed of a Humvee.

Sunrise was still hours away but a buzz of activity surrounded a dusty and darkened building at an American base in Saddam Hussein's hometown.

"There's times I get up for a patrol and get a weird feeling and those are the nights with RPG's or IED's," Rodriguez, 35, from Marcy, New York, said referring to rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices - homemade bombs usually made out of artillery shells.

Rodriguez's unit was going on a raid - one of dozens that U.S. troops have mounted in an effort to track down resistance fighters whose attacks are killing as many as six U.S. soldiers a week in Iraq.

Easing away from a base, Rodriguez's Humvee joined a raiding party of similar vehicles from the 1st Battalion, 22 Infantry Regiment, that slipped darkly through the quiet streets of Tikrit, darting at high speed through pools of light cast by dim street lamps.

As the Humvees careered through the streets, they approached RPG alley - a street named after the numerous rockets fired at American troops.

Their target during the Sept. 24 raid was a suspected bankroller of the Saddam Fedayeen - Saddam's militia and the organization thought responsible for deadly attacks against U.S. soldiers. Their favored weapons: RPGs, homemade bombs and AK-47 assault rifles.

Such financiers are top targets for the military as they often act as middlemen between those organizing the attacks and those pulling the triggers. They have been the targets of dozens of night raids.

"These individuals are involved in financing Fedayeen activity and organizing the cells for resistance," Maj. Bryan Luke said as he stood near the targeted house.

The attacks have become increasingly coordinated and sophisticated, while the resistance cells - some numbering just a few people - have grown more elusive as bankrollers and organizers seek to physically distance themselves from the scene of attacks.

Most of the people that carry out attacks are thought to be hired for as little as $100. In the past the attacks have been mostly "miss and run" strikes, as the Army calls them - but that has changed in recent weeks.

"The enemy has evolved - a little bit more lethal, a little more complex, a little more sophisticated, and in some cases, a little bit more tenacious," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.

The result is that six months after America won the war, U.S. troops are suffering three to six deaths and 40 wounded every week.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in Tikrit, where seven U.S. soldiers have died in the past three weeks from ambushes, small arms fire and roadside bombs.

"People are watching you; you know they are watching," said Sgt. Lonnie Henton, 33, from Bedford, Texas.

As the wind roared around the Humvee, Bradley fighting vehicles took up positions around the area where the suspected financier was believed to be staying. They slowed slightly to take a corner into the back alleys of Tikrit.

"There's times you go down those dark, dark alleys with holes in them and open windows. One AK through a hole and you're gone. It's close quarters, hand-to-hand," Rodriguez said.

As Apache helicopters hovered overhead, the soldiers decided to take no chances and smashed in the steel front gate of the house with a humvee. Others entered the courtyard and blew out the front door. In the alleys around the streets, there was a hint of moving shadows, only the faint green luminescent glow of night vision goggles revealing them to be soldiers surrounding the house.

"We do most of our raids at night. We own the night," Henton said. "But someone can still sneak up on you. There's a lot of vacant houses with windows."

The 4th Infantry Division's 1-22 has carried out dozens of raids in Tikrit - often back-to-back - seizing thousands of weapons and detaining hundreds of people. Iraqis tired of the violence are often their best sources of information.

After arresting the suspected financier, the convoy - still wary - returned to base and soldiers tried to relax.

"On those nights your awareness is in overdrive," Henton said. "I call home and talk to my family and just don't talk about it."

Others bake bread, watch television, read or play video games.

"I don't think about it in the hooch. I just write my family," Rodriguez said.

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U.S. Raid Finds Bomb Material in Iraq

By PATRICK QUINN
.c The Associated Press

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops raided the home of a suspected weapons dealer Sunday, arresting him and discovering materials commonly used by the Iraqi resistance to build the roadside bombs that target American soldiers.

As Apache helicopters hovered overhead, troops backed up by Bradley fighting vehicles battered down the front of the house in central Tikrit in the pre-dawn hours, looking for a man identified by fellow Iraqis as a weapons dealer and possible member of the Saddam Fedayeen, the regime's former militia.

Inside, they found blasting caps and other materials that could be used to build a number of bombs. The raid took place near the site of an Oct. 1 roadside bombing that killed a woman soldier serving with the 4th Infantry Division.

``We had targeted an individual we were looking for and we did find him at this home, along with some incriminating paraphernalia and bomb-making material,'' Major Mike Rauhut, executive officer of the 4th ID's 1st Brigade 22nd Infantry Regiment, told The Associated Press outside the house.

As he spoke, soldiers used metal detectors to sweep the home's wall-enclosed courtyard while others searched through the two floors of the house.

U.S. troops have intensified their hunt for bomb makers and their bankrollers following a recent increase in roadside attacks against American convoys and patrols, which have killed seven soldiers from the 4th ID, based in Fort Hood, Texas, over the past three weeks.

Iraqi resistance cells are thought to often scatter the materials needed to assemble a bomb, keeping its various components in different locations until they are put together shortly before an attack.

Rauhut said it was premature to say if the two suspects arrested at the house were connected to the attack that killed 21-year-old PFC Analaura Esparza-Gutierrez. The names of the detainees were not released.

``The information we received from Iraqi sources is that this individual was involved in arms dealing or potentially a member of the Fedayeen, so that's what led us to this objective. We found some blasting caps and other things that could be used to make bombs so we will question them,'' Rauhut said.

U.S. troops have increased their patrols and searches around Saddam Hussein's hometown following the attacks, uncovering significant arms caches and detaining dozens of suspected resistance members.

10/05/03 01:09 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.