|
September Weapons Haul in Baghdad Largest
Since May
American Forces Press Service
October 6, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition troops operating in and
around Baghdad seized 31 weapons caches in September, constituting the largest
monthly haul of ordnance in that area since May, when 54 caches were uncovered,
military officials reported.
Coalition forces patrolling Baghdad's Radwiniyah district on Sept. 28 were
approached by an Iraqi citizen who told the soldiers about a large weapons
cache. The soldiers found 175 sticks of dynamite, 109 grenades, 149 rockets,
mortar and artillery rounds, two rocket launchers, 46 anti-personnel mines and
20 pounds of TNT.
U.S. soldiers acting on a tip from another Iraqi citizen seized a weapons
cache hidden in western Baghdad on Sept. 25. The soldiers, from Company B, 1st
Battalion, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, collected 85 mortar rounds, 14
rockets, two artillery rounds, and three mortar tubes.
The cache also contained eight rocket-propelled-grenade launchers with 144
RPGs and 30 RPG chargers, three anti-tank weapons, 20 hand grenades,
bomb-making materials, two machine guns, two assault rifles, and 75 pounds of
ammunition.
Another Iraqi tipster helped Iraqi army soldiers seize two terror suspects
and an anti-Iraqi forces weapons cache during a Sept. 24 operation in Baghdad.
That weapons cache contained 84 mortar rounds and one mortar tube, five
rockets, three RPG launchers with 18 RPGs, and a bag of small-arms
ammunition.
Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers patrolling the Mansour district of central
Baghdad on Sept. 21 found a cache of weapons after coming under fire from
terrorists hiding in a building. The Iraqis stormed the building and found 35
mortar rounds and rockets, one mortar tube, 27 rocket-propelled grenades, three
roadside bombs, and five cell phones. Iraqi forces killed five terrorists
during the firefight.
On Sept. 17, U.S. soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 48th
Brigade Combat Team, patrolling in the Radwiniyah area of western Baghdad found
one of the largest caches of the month after local citizens told them about a
field of buried weapons.
The unit uncovered the cache, then expanded the search and found two more
stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in the same area. The two caches contained
63 RPG rounds, 23 RPG motors, 904 RPG fuses and primers, 33 rockets, 35 mortar
rounds, two mortar firing tubes, 80 mortar fuses, and five crates of TNT. One
terror suspect was captured at the site and taken into custody for
questioning.
(From a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)
|
|