Trying to play catch-up here. A lot has happened in the past week that I’ve wanted to talk about but seems old now. For instance, the other day I took the kids to D.C. to see the sites and take in a museum or two. The wind was so bad and cold. I had to buy the kids those cheesy tourist beenies that they sell on the streets to keep their ears warm. Chris’s hat blew off his head and was impossible to catch. I later found out the wind was over 68 mph that day (74 mph is classified as hurricane force). When we got up to the base of the Washington Monument, it was so bad, I could barely hold the stroller with Hannah in it. It was literally a physical fight to hold onto it. At the same time, the wind had blown one of the flags off its pole. Someone else got to it before I could. Two other flags were barely hanging on. I wondered aloud why they just don’t take them down. Some people were actually leaning about 45 degrees into the wind…and staying up!! The kids hated it and one by one they started whining. So, we hurried to the Museum of American History to hide from the elements for awhile.

Anyway, I’ve got all the information for the next segment of my IED Roll-Ups. So, let’s get started. The first one doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with IEDs, but where else did you hear about this?

January 11 – Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition forces liberated a French hostage Saturday in the Abu Ghraib area. The Iraqi Army Soldiers were searching farm houses for weapon caches while Coalition forces manned a checkpoint as part of an outer cordon. As the Iraqi Army came close to the kidnappers’ location, they fled from a nearby farmhouse and left the French hostage. After the kidnappers fled, the hostage, Bernard Planche, 52, ran up to the Coalition checkpoint. Planche was first reported kidnapped in western Baghdad December 5. Iraqi Army and Coalition forces are continuing to search the area for the kidnappers.

January 8 – An Iraqi man led an Iraqi Army patrol to a large weapons and munitions cache in western Baghdad. The man, who had been previously kidnapped, had escaped and led Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division to the house where he had been held hostage. Iraqi Soldiers searched the house and discovered a large cache containing six 155 mm artillery rounds wired as explosive devices, 10 rifle grenades, one 50 pound bag of homemade explosives, four hand grenades, one 9 mm submachine gun, two 30 caliber machine guns, one Soviet style sniper rifle, two Iraqi Police uniforms, four masks, one five pound block of explosives, 1500 feet of detonation cord, 500 artillery primers, eight rocket propelled grenade launchers, 20 RPG rounds, three anti-personnel RPG rounds, six RPG fuses, two RPG sights, four 60 mm mortars, two mortar sights, 12 blasting caps, one box of 160 60 mm mortar fuses, 71 mortar rounds, 30 assorted mortar fuses, six propellant charges, three containers of mercury chloride, 200 rounds of 7.62mm ammo, 1,000 pounds of 5.56 mm ammo, one riot control gas grenade, two timers, two switches, 15 license plates, six weapons magazines and assorted propaganda.

January 9 – Iraqi Army troops from the 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division and Coalition forces discovered a weapons cache south of Karmah. The cache contained 82 cases of 23 mm ammunition, one rocket-propelled grenade launcher and one RPG round.

January 9 – Iraqi Police prevented two suicide bombers from attacking an Iraqi Police Day ceremony at the Ministry of Interior compound, located in the District of Rusafa. One of the terrorists detonated himself after being denied entry at an Iraqi Police entry point of the compound. Minutes later, the second terrorist approached the same entry point and detonated himself as well. The ceremony was completed without interruption.

January 10 – Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division discovered a cache during a patrol northwest of Khalidiyah. The cache consisted of one 162 mm mortar round with a detonation cord attached, four blocks of TNT and one antitank guided missile. The cache was turned over to the authorities for disposal. No injuries or damages were reported.

January 10 - Iraqi Army troops from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Division, discovered a cache during a dismounted patrol in south Ramadi. The cache consisted of five 60 mm mortar rounds, three 100 mm mortar rounds, three 115 mm high explosive rounds, three 120 mm illumination rounds, one 120 mm mortar round, one 122 mm illumination round, two 130 mm high-explosive rounds, 200 mortar primers, one acetylene tank and three 1.5 liter bottles filled with explosive made from fertilizer. An explosive ordnance team was called to the site and destroyed the cache.

January 11 – Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, discovered two caches during city searches west of Ramadi and Mulaab. The cache discovered west of Ramadi consisted of one radio base station, one 9-volt battery, one washing machine timer and blasting caps. The cache discovered in Mulaab consisted of a large amount of small arms ammunition, 35 82 mm mortar rounds, seven 120 mm mortar rounds, one 120 mm rocket round, 12 hand grenades and 3 60 mm mortar rounds.

January 11 – Troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, discovered two caches during a patrol west of Ubaydi. The two caches consisted of 45 artillery rounds, one AK-47 assault rifle, one bolt-action rifle, 60 7.62 mm rounds and seven empty AK-47 magazines.

January 12 – Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, discovered a cache when they observed loose dirt alongside railroad tracks. The cache consisted of six 130 mm artillery rounds, one 120 mm spent illumination mortar round, one artillery projectile fuse and a pressure plate. A bomb disposal team was called to the scene and destroyed the cache.

January 12 – Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Iraqi Army Division, supported by Task Force Ironhorse Soldiers, detained a suspected terrorist and discovered a weapons cache during a raid north of Baghdad. The Iraqi soldiers and Soldiers from a military training team with 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment received fire from insurgents, but quickly suppressed the firefight and captured one suspect. The Iraqi soldiers also discovered three improvised explosive devices, four mortar tubes, 50 mortar rounds, four rocket propelled grenade launchers, 30 RPG rounds, 50 AK-47 rifles. Also found were 10 rocket launchers, 10 rockets, 200 grenades, one RPK machine gun, six sticks of C-4 explosives, an unknown amount of TNT, one 152 mm round, one tazer and Iraqi Army uniforms and identification cards.

To read more IED Roll-Ups, just click HERE.