Troops Find Several Weapons Caches in Iraq

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2006 - Soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, seized a total of 30 weapons caches last week in the southern Baghdad area, U.S. military officials reported.

The caches comprised large quantities of assault rifles, machine guns, ammunition and a wide assortment of explosives and bomb-making materials.

The most significant find within the caches were four aircraft bombs, believed to be 500 pounds apiece. The munitions were intended for building a massive makeshift bomb to be used in Baghdad, officials said.

Other items in the find included 90mm rockets, a 107mm rocket, two fertilizer bags containing homemade explosives, 120mm mortar rounds, an anti-aircraft machine gun, ammunition cans, rocket-propelled grenade launchers with grenades, and a variety of remote-controlled triggering devices.

A suspected terrorist was detained at the scene.

The caches were found during Operation Commando Hunter, which is designed to deny the terrorists sanctuary within the brigade's area of operations, officials said.

Elsewhere, Iraqi Army soldiers discovered a weapons cache Oct. 5 in Iraq's Diyala province that included 120mm mortar rounds, mortar fuses and one vehicle with stolen license plates.

The soldiers, from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, discovered the cache while conducting a cordon and search of the village in an effort to disrupt insurgent activities in the area, U.S. military officials said.

The successful mission came after extensive planning and rehearsal on the part of the Iraqi unit with coalition force advisors assisting during the mission planning and review phases, officials said.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1504]

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