U.S. Army Task Force Foils Terrorist Bombings
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2005 – Task Force Band of Brothers soldiers disrupted two terrorist bombing operations yesterday in Baqubah, a city about 20 miles north of Baghdad, killing two terrorists and detaining another at a new checkpoint, U.S. military officials in Baghdad reported.

Just before noon, soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team stopped a suspicious car and detained the driver after discovering the vehicle was being prepared as a car bomb. An explosives ordnance disposal team found no explosives, but the car was laced with wiring used to detonate explosives.

Later, soldiers fired at a second vehicle as it tried to run through the checkpoint. The driver was killed, and two men with AK-47 assault rifles climbed out and tried to flee. One gunman got away, but the other was wounded and quickly was surrounded.

As the soldiers approached the wounded man, they noticed he was wearing what appeared to be an explosive-laden suicide belt. Soldiers guarded the man until an EOD team arrived and removed the belt, which contained more than three pounds of plastic explosives. The failed bomber was treated for his wounds and detained.