U.S. Special Forces destroyed an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq training camp in the Jazeera Desert, military officials said Wednesday.
The camp was in an old radar station and was being used to train insurgents in various tactics and to store weapons. The cache included more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, SA-7 surface-to-air missiles, a SAM battery, machine guns, rockets, explosives and suicide bomb vest components.
“After the cache was secured, U.S. Special Forces saw two white trucks approaching the compound. Each vehicle was visibly armed. The vehicles stopped short of the compound and one vehicle began a flanking maneuver,” according to a news release.
“Based on prior intelligence, the discovered cache, and the manner of movement by the vehicles, U.S. SF determined hostile intent and fired on the flanking vehicle. The truck caught fire. The individuals inside the truck ran to the second truck and fled the area.”
The Special Forces teams then called in airstrikes to destroy the compound; five of 18 structures were destroyed. Many of the weapons were destroyed at the site, while some were transported for disposal in other places, officials said.