5/26/2007 — BALAD AIR BASE, IRAQ (AFPN) — Airmen working with the Cyberspace Coalition Forces in Iraq captured an Internet warlord known to have connections with senior leaders of al Qaeda.

Fourteen-year-old Abdul "Katrina007" Kitriti was discovered hiding in his parents' makeshift home. Kitriti's status as an Internet warlord was confirmed during a raid on a cyber-terrorist safe house in Hackitha, a small village near Baghdad. Three of Kitriti's laptop-armed playmates were killed when their wireless networking cards converged on the safe house during the raid. Coalition aircraft released bombs that homed in on the wireless signals being used by the terrorist's playmates.

The raid on the safe house and the subsequent capture of Kitriti was being conducted to remove cyber-terrorists from Tall Afar in support of the Iraqi government's efforts to bring safety and security to the computers of that city. The operation, with about 5,000 U.S. Airmen, is the largest cyberspace operation since the battle for Fallujah's official website in November 2004.

Officials noted that there were no injuries to multinational forces during the raids.

Airmen from the 407th Expeditionary Computer Security Forces Squadron confiscated TCP packet launchers from Kitriti's parents' home while conducting a network-defense patrol sweep. The squadron also interrupted insurgents as they set timers on logic bombs aimed at the base. The airmen saw the insurgents, but were unable to quarantine the network before the they fled the subnet area. Munitions specialists from the 407th Expeditionary Computer Engineer Squadron were called to the scene to destroy the Internet explosive device.

"I am continually amazed at the security forces members' dedication to duty in the face of adversity and threat," said Col. Nowell J. Michaels, 407th Air Expeditionary Communications Group commander. "These men and women patrol the networks in this hot, dusty desert around the clock in order to keep each one of us on the installation safe."