U.S. and Iraqi troops operating in Baghdad are finding nearly twice the number of weapons caches they did months ago, a senior commander said.

Army Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, commander of Multinational Division-Baghdad, said the number of weapons caches found by his troops and Iraqi forces has swelled to about 92 percent over the number of discoveries six months ago. For example, during the summer, troops would find an average of eight to 10 weapons caches per week — and many of them were small, including small arms, ingredients to make improvised explosive devices and other materials. These days, U.S. and Iraqi forces are finding 15 to 20 large caches per week, said Webster, briefing Pentagon reporters Friday by video teleconference.

Recently, troops found a cache on an island in the Euphrates River near Baghdad with 4,000 pounds of homemade explosives, 25 hollowed-out bombs to use to build explosive devices, and dozens of artillery rounds. Troops also discovered a facility for welding bombs into cars to make deadly "VBEDS," or vehicle-borne explosive devices, Webster said.

It's not only that the number of caches discovered that has increased, said Webster, but also the size of the ones found. "It's the quantity as much as the number we're finding," he said.

Why such an increase? The commander said it's because more Iraqis are willing to share information with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces.

"They are giving us more information that we're turning into useable intelligence," he said.

He also said troops "focused their efforts" before the Dec. 15 election.

About 30,000 troops under "Task Force Baghdad" will return to the United States in about a month, Webster said. The command has been operating in the area since February 2004.

For Marines and Iraqi forces operating near Haditha, along the Syrian border, a big cache discovery all started with finding a small mortar tailfin sticking out of the dirt near a mosque. The troops, working together in Bani Dahir on Thursday, opted to sweep the area with metal detectors after the mortar fin was first spotted, according to a description of the discovery that was e-mailed to reporters from Marine Capt. Jeff Pool, a spokesman for 2nd Marine Division operating in and around Anbar Province west of Baghdad. That led to the discovery of a small weapons cache inside a wooden crate buried in the shallow dirt near the mosque. Ultimately, Marines discovered a rocket-propelled launcher, 60 mm high explosive mortar rounds, trip wire fuses, detonation cords and other materials used for detonating bombs.

In the courtyard of the same mosque, troops found another weapons cache that included a propane tank filled with propellant, a cordless phone and other materials. All in all, it was a good day when it comes to finding materials used to make the primary killer of troops in Iraq.

"Taking these caches away from insurgents degrades their ability to attack Iraqi civilians and Iraqi and U.S. forces," Pool wrote in the e-mail, which included photographs of the find.

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