Raid Nets 12 Suspects in Attack on Hotel
U.S. troops launched overnight raids and captured at least 12 people suspected of involvement in a deadly attack on a Baghdad hotel last month where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz had been staying, a top commander said Saturday.
Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Army’s 1st Armored Division, said the suspects appeared to have links to the former regime of Saddam Hussein.
On Oct. 26, attackers fired rockets into the Rashid Hotel in the U.S.-led occupation administration compound, killing a U.S. military officer and wounding at least seven other people. Wolfowitz was visiting Iraq at the time.
“Based on multiple sources who provided human intelligence, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division conducted a raid overnight in western Baghdad and captured 12 of 18 targets believed to have been responsible for the attack,” Dempsey said.
Military officers said the operation involved raids on several different locations. The officers said they believed they had broken up a cell of former regime figures that included a financier, a supplier and operatives.
Soldiers found $10,000 in cash in the home of the suspected leader, a military source said.
The source also said there was no evidence so far of any foreign involvement in the cell.
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