From MNF-I, Concerned citizens, Coalition Forces destroy weapons cache, insurgent safe houses.
ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq — With help from the concerned citizens of Jurf as Sakhr, Iraqi and Coalition Forces identified and destroyed an enemy fighting position and safehouse Aug. 25 as part of Operation Gecko. Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division acted on a lead from a concerned citizen on a known enemy fighting position suspected of containing a mortar tube with ammunition.Once the location was identified, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters engaged the location with one missile, rendering the position useless to the enemy, and the Paratroopers of 1-501st Abn. destroyed the remains of the bunker.
Continuing to follow the lead of the concerned citizens, Paratroopers were then taken to an al-Qaeda safehouse where five armed terrorists were hiding. The location was marked and destroyed with a 1,000-pound bomb, killing the five al-Qaeda militants.
Operation Gecko is systematically cleaning up the area, removing deadly roadside bombs and capturing or killing the terrorists and militiamen responsible for the violence and chaos that had blanketed the region.