Coalition and Iraqi forces continue their operations in the Diyala River Valley area of Iraq to disrupt Al Qaeda cells that moved in to that area after being pushed out of Baghdad during late 2007. Coalition forces detained 15 suspected terrorists during a multi-day operation January 7 - 10. In addition, coalition forces located several weapons caches, booby-trapped houses, an IED-making facility, and a torture facility.
With the help of numerous Iraqi local citizens, Coalition forces discovered four weapon caches, a former al-Qaida in Iraq prison and torture facility, and an improvised explosive device-making facility during the four-day operation.
Local Iraqis confirmed the use of the prison facility by al-Qaida in Iraq, but said it had not been used recently due to the presence of Coalition forces in the region. In addition, Coalition forces also destroyed four buildings that were found rigged with explosives and a river-crossing point that was being used to facilitate the movement of terrorists.
The above photo shows a weapons cache located in Diyala Province January 8.
