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Force raids suspected IED maker in Tikrit

TIKRIT, Iraq — A raiding team hit a suspected vehicle-borne IED maker here early Wednesday, killing the main suspect but suffering several wounded and one killed, according to initial reports and accounts by soldiers sent in as a reaction force. Several civilians and a military working dog also were killed.

A military spokesman identified the raiders only as a “coalition force,” without providing their country or branch of service.

Acting on information that a Baghdad-based VBIED-maker had moved into Tikrit, the force descended on a house in a neighborhood adjoining Tikrit after midnight. After summoning the occupants by loudspeaker and getting no answer, forces blew the door off the target house, summoned again and began taking small-arms fire and grenades after entering the house, according to reports. Several troops were wounded in the initial exchange, and a fixed-wing gunship was called in, destroying the house.

The force began taking fire from other nearby houses, sparking a three-hour firefight. One in the raiding team and a military dog were killed. Four other troops in the team were wounded. According to reports, the main suspect and three other males were killed, as well as three women and a child. Five children, two other males and three women were wounded and are being treated at U.S. military hospitals.

One of wounded women is reported to be a relative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

A significant amount of cash and information was recovered from the site. Early this morning, troops on Contingency Operating Base Speicher, the main base outside Tikrit, were asked over a public address system to donate B-positive blood. A reaction force from Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne, returned to base, some smeared in soot, and reported a scene of devastation.

According to a press release from Multi-National Force-Iraq in Baghdad, the suspect was “associated with al-Qaida in Iraq and suspected of organizing car bombings for the terrorist group.” The release also says the firefight continued after the airstrike, “as armed terrorists ran from the target and attempted to hide in neighboring homes, using the occupants as shields.”

Maj. Winfield Danielson, an MNF-I spokesman said coalition forces took “extensive precautions” to protect locals.

“Al-Qaida’s terrorists continue to show disregard for women and children, putting them in harm’s way while they conduct and plan their brutal operations,” Danielson said.