VBIED discovered; terrorists fail

VBIED discovered; terrorists fail
Multi-National Division – North PAO

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – Soldiers from the 303rd Military Police Company and Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, discovered a car bomb around noon March 19 near the Al Fatah Mosque in Bayji.

“This mosque is located along a main road in Bayji and is traveled daily by tens of thousands of people. If detonated, it would have been a disaster,” said Maj. Curtis Buzzard, executive officer, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. “If it had exploded, damage to the Al Fatah mosque and deaths to innocent civilians in the area would’ve been inevitable. Clearly, the terrorists here have no respect for Islam and no respect for the Muslim people and Bayji community.”

An explosive ordnance disposal team was immediately dispatched to the scene where the four-door sedan was discovered with three 50-pound propane tanks filled with three 152 mm, two 155 mm, and one 130 mm rounds. Detonation wire was also found laid from the car bomb, across three light poles, and dropped down the base of a fence within the mosque’s facility.

Coalition forces received sporadic small-arms fire throughout the clearance and investigation of the car bomb. Only minor damages to vehicles were sustained, and no casualties were taken by the troops.

After disabling the car bomb, the troops detained three individuals near the start of the detonation wire, which they traced to a group of buildings near the mosque. The detainees were taken into custody for questioning.