About 80 foreign fighters who were captured in the northeast region of Iraq within the past 24 hours were in the U.S.-led coalition’s custody Thursday and being interrogated about why they were in Iraq.
The fighters were nabbed between the city of Mosul and the Syrian border. The operation, only a day old and set to conclude shortly, was conducted by elements of the 101st Airborne Division and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Officials said the foreign fighters come from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan and Syria. They were found with nearly 1 million Iraqi Dinars, and some $75,000 in U.S. currency. Initial reports indicate they were relatively lightly armed — mostly with machine guns, shot guns and sniper rifles. |