Senior al-Qaeda Leaders Captured in Surge Operation

Soldiers assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, move to their next location during Operation Arrowhead Ripper, in Baqouba, Iraq, June 19, 2007.

Fox News reports U.S. and Iraqi troops captured two senior Al-Qaeda militants and seven other operatives Saturday in Diyala province, an Iraqi commander said, as an offensive to clear the area of insurgents entered its fifth day.

On day five of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, Task Force Lightning and Iraqi soldiers continued sweeping through Baqouba, Iraq, to root out al-Qaeda in Iraq.

CF Soldiers worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the Iraqi soldiers and police officers in and around the city during the operations. Coalition ground forces and air support provided critical assistance in targeting and destroying al-Qaeda operatives and their safe havens.

On the fourth day of the operation in Baqouba, ISF and CF discovered a building suspected of being used as a torture chamber. Ground forces observed various weapons, including knives and saws, inside the building as well as blood stains throughout the building. After securing the area, the building and its contents were destroyed by an attack helicopter armed with Hellfire missiles.

Since the beginning of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, at least 55 al-Qaeda operatives have been killed, 23 have been detained, 16 weapons caches have been discovered, 28 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 12 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.