U.S. troops foil plot to tunnel under, blow up Mosul provincial hall

[unhappycamper]

According to officials, U.S. soldiers — acting on a report of a planned underground attack against Mosul's Provincial Hall — found this tunnel system and arrested two in what the U.S. commander in northern Iraq called an “evil deed.”


U.S. troops foil plot to tunnel under, blow up Mosul provincial hall
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, September 3, 2008

American troops have foiled an apparent plot to tunnel under the Mosul provincial hall and destroy the building with explosives, officials said Tuesday.

According to U.S. military officials in northern Iraq, at least two alleged al-Qaida in Iraq members were detained Monday in connection with the plot.

The two men were detained "during a patrol that led to a search of a bakery" near the provincial hall, according to a news release.

"Soldiers were acting on a report regarding a planned bomb attack against Provincial Hall by way of a tunnel system," the release read.

Mosul has been described by U.S. commanders as the last urban stronghold for the Sunni insurgent group. U.S. and Iraqi forces have gradually increased pressure in the city over recent months, largely by following a plan similar to that used in Baghdad — building smaller combat outposts in urban areas where troops largely had no presence before.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57148