Explosives Hidden in Furniture And Building
Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq
An airborne dropped weapon destroyed a known safe house for insurgents in Arab Jabour December 4th.
Soldiers from Fort Stewart Ga coordinated the attack. and intelligence provided by members of a Concerned Local Citizens group (CLC) from that area. The munitions were provided courtesy of two direct attack bombs delivered by an Air Force Falcon F-16 jet.
First Battalion, Thirty Infantry Regiment, and 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry based in Georgia, provided soldiers in the joint effort. The attack began with the intelligence provided on the ground from a daylight recon trip provided by the CLC group.
Salah Mubarak, who worked with U.S. Forces to perform the mission, heads the CLC citizen group. “We went forward with the mission working closely with the CLC forces†said Captain Eric Melloh.
Captain Melloh is Company A, 1-30th Infantry Regiment Commander.
Local Citizens grew tired of the repeated attacks and violence and vowed to take action. Mubarak’s cousin, a member of the CLC group, drew together and planned the mission with the guidance of Coalition Forces.
Captain Melloh made sure the CLC group were supplied with digital cameras, and the group went in and took extensive pictures of the area before the raid took place. During the raid explosives were found packed in various pieces of furniture, and IED devices and pressure plate triggers were scattered throughout the building
“The CLC group was well aware that the Insurgents use booby traps and explosives, they were very careful, and did an excellent job gathering the intelligence needed for the strike.†Said Captain Melloh.
