Operation Phantom Phoenix: Tip leads MND-North Soldiers to extremist car bomb factory and large cach

From MNF-I.

Multi-National Division – North Soldiers discovered a car bomb factory, terrorist command cell and large cache in the western desert of Salah ad Din province Jan. 8 as a result of tips from local citizens during Operation Phantom Phoenix, a countrywide effort to kill or capture al-Qaeda and other extremists. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) found an extensive enemy training camp, training manuals, video equipment, four vehicle-borne IEDs, 1,000 pounds of homemade explosives, 30 pressure plate road bombs and multiple mortar rounds. “The Soldiers of the “No Slack” Battalion severely weakened the enemy operating in southern Salah ad Din province when, thanks to the help of an informant, they discovered and destroyed an enemy training camp and sizeable explosives cache,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Hauerwas, 1st Brigade Combat Team executive officer. “The action degraded the enemies’ ability to intimidate and terrorize the people of Iraq.”