Tikrit (Iraq), Aug 07: US forces captured a suspected leader of Saddam Hussein's loyalist militia and three other suspects during pre-dawn raids today, the military said.
The suspected leader allegedly organised cells and paid armed guerrilla fighters to attack coalition forces in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 22nd Infantry regiment's 1st Battalion,
which carried out the raids.
Also among those captured were two former Iraqi generals suspected of organising guerrilla attacks nationwide. Russell declined to name any of the suspects.
Today's raids resulted from a series of tips from residents who told soldiers that the suspects had held a meeting and then helped pinpoint their locations, Russell said.
As apache attack helicopters circled above, about 100 soldiers backed by four battle tanks, eight Bradley fighting vehicles surrounded a suspected hotel, in the raid witnessed by the Associated Press. They brought 39 men out from the building and neighbouring tenements.
The soldiers questioned them and released most of them.
“If you fight against your government, we will hunt you down and kill you,'' Russell told the freed men through an interpreter.
Bureau Report
