BAGHDAD – Two Apache helicopter airstrikes killed three suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq extremists near Maderiyah during Operation Marne Thunderbolt on the night of Jan. 4 and the morning of Jan. 5 In the first strike Jan. 4, Soldiers from Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, saw two suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members digging and emplacing weapons caches in a canal. Battery B called for air support from 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade.
When the extremists heard the Apaches overhead, they fled to a nearby building. The helicopters engaged the extremists with machine guns. A reconnaissance of the area confirmed both extremists were killed.
The following day, Soldiers reported another man digging in numerous spots in the same area on the canal. The man was identified as an extremist and was engaged by Apache helicopters.
There will be no need for those extremists to be "engaged" again.
