Marines and Iraqis patrol the waterways surrounding the city of Basra, looking for illegal weapons.

U.S. military officials say the 12th and final base controlled by the Dragon Brigade has now been turned over to the Iraqis.

The Afghan Development Team is using fruits and vegetables to build the country’s economy. Also, U.S. Soldiers work with Iraqis to build schools.

U.S. forces assisted their Iraqi counterparts in two recent operations in Iraq, military officials reported.

In Baghdad yesterday, elements of an elite Iraqi counterterrorism force, along with U.S. forces advisors, arrested two suspected terrorists under a warrant issued by the Central Investigating Court of Karkh.

The suspects allegedly are affiliated with a terrorist network that conducts roadside-bomb attacks against the Iraqi army.

In Ninevah province Sept. 13, U.S. forces assisted Iraqi forces after an Iraqi army patrol came under fire by suspected foreign fighters near Tal Abtah. Three enemy fighters and two Iraqi police officers were killed, and one suspected terrorist was captured.

Officials said an Iraqi patrol came under small-arms attack from a truck and began pursuit as nearby U.S air and ground forces were called to assist. The combined forces used nonlethal fire in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but the truck’s occupants fired on the U.S. helicopter supporting the mission.

The helicopter crew returned fire, disabling the vehicle and killing one of the occupants. Ground forces detained another occupant who tried to flee from the truck. He identified himself as a foreign fighter, a claim that is under investigation, officials said.

While searching for another suspect who fled from the vehicle, U.S. and Iraqi forces received small-arms fire from two individuals believed to be connected to the attack. Two Iraqi police officers and the two attackers were killed in the firefight.

U.S. and Iraqi forces searched the attackers’ vehicle and found numerous weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades.

The Army has deployed the first of its new highly specialized explosive hazards teams to train Iraqis to counter explosives.

The 130th Engineer Brigade’s 15th Explosive Hazards Team from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, recently arrived here to support the brigade’s reconstruction mission in Iraq’s Ninevah province. The team will enhance the 130th’s capabilities to train Iraqi soldiers in counter-improvised explosive device tactics and evidence collection procedures.

The teams are a new concept in military operations. Created to support explosive ordnance disposal units, each team member completes several months of intensive training ranging from mine detection and area clearance to explosives tracking and hazards planning.

“The training we went through as a unit certified us to be able to instruct other units in IED defeat, area clearance, and mine detection operations,” said Sgt. James T. Williams, a technical intelligence analyst with the 15th EHT.

The Army has four explosives hazards teams. Besides the 15th, there are teams at Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Lewis, Wash.

“The 15th EHT was not only the first team to complete the certification process, but they are also the first operational EHT to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom,” said Army 1st Lt. Manuel A. Orozco, 15th EHT detachment commander. “I credit my team members for the outstanding job they did to get us where we are.”

Orozco said his seven-member team will provide explosives tracking, mitigation and assured mobility for the 130th and will act as a military training team for Iraqi soldiers.

While the 15th EHT arrived here certified to train other units in explosives hazards, the ever-changing operational demands in Iraq also provided the unit an opportunity to teach the Iraqis evidence collection procedures as part of their training.

“A critical part of our mission is training the Iraqi security forces in everything they need to know to replace U.S. forces as far as conducting counter-IED operations,” Orozco said. “We train the trainers, so the Iraqis can take what they learn from us back to their own units and teach them how to effectively counter the IED threat.”

The 15th EHT is undergoing crime-scene evidence collection certification. Before the U.S. soldiers can train the Iraqis in these procedures, they must complete several hours of sensitive site-exploitation training. Law enforcement officials with the 25th Infantry Division, which is responsible for operations in northern Iraq, will certify the 15th EHT in the procedures.

Evidence-collection training will be a major part of the 15th EHT’s mission, Orozco said. Using evidence-collection procedures at crime scenes will assist the Iraqis in targeting the insurgency and, ultimately, governing themselves, he explained. Knowing how to target explosives hazards and find insurgents responsible for making, emplacing and financing IED operations gives the Iraqi government more control, he added.

Coalition troops provide humanitarian assistance to Iraqis, and Troops send Father’s Day messages to their families back home.