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U.S. Marines capture sniper rifles, kill 6, wound 4 insurgents

The Coalition Forces killed six insurgents, wounded four and netted five sniper rifles Sunday in the Euphrates River city of Hit, Iraq.

The Coalition Force positively identified 10 males conducting insurgent activity in a parking lot prior to engaging them with a heavy volume of fire.

The insurgents were gathered around a car while distributing black masks, AK-47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers to one another.

After the engagement the Coalition Force personnel searched three insurgent vehicles in the parking lot and captured the following equipment:

o (5) sniper rifles
o (3) sniper rifle magazines
o (11) AK-47 assault rifles
o (19) AK-47 assault rifle magazines
o (3) rocket propelled grenades with launchers
o (1) RPK machine gun
o (2) PKC machine gun
o (1) video camera
o (1) bullet-proof vest with protective plates
o (2) hand grenades
o (7) load bearing vests
o (8) black masks

During the engagement, some of the insurgent weapons were destroyed, and found burning inside the vehicles.

"Today was significant for Coalition Forces because it reduced the sniper threat in Hit by a considerable margin," said Lt. Col. Thomas Graves, commanding officer for the Friedburg, Germany-based 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment.

"We will take advantage of this opportunity by continuing our efforts to develop Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police forces within Hit," said Graves.

1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment is the Coalition Forces unit responsible for training Iraqi Security Forces and providing security to the city of Hit.

Coalition Forces evacuated the four wounded insurgents to a nearby U.S. military medical facility for treatment. Their condition is unknown at this time.

Hit is a city of about 60,000 located 35 miles northwest of Ramadi in Iraq's Al Anbar Province.

Source: Multi-National Force-Iraq

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