Iraqi Army raids Shiite militia strongholds, finds cache of Iranian-made weapons

Daily Star via Iraq Update ^ | 2007 Nov 19

[Wiz]

Iranian-made weapons were among a large cache of arms and ammunition found during operations in a Shiite militia stronghold south of Baghdad, the Iraqi Army said Monday.

Major General Jamil Kamel al-Shimari, a senior officer in the 8th Iraqi Army Division, said the cache was the biggest store of weapons found since the launch of Operation Lion Pounce on Saturday.

Iraqi security officials said that 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen supported by military tanks and hundreds of US and Polish troops launched the assault Saturday to flush out Shiite militants from the city.

The stockpile, which included roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar bombs and explosives, was uncovered in Diwaniyya, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad.

Four suspected militants were arrested at the scene, among 74 who have been detained since the operation began.

"All of their hands are bloodied," Shimari said.

"There are seven Iranian-made roadside bombs and nine anti-tank mines. These are a big danger threatening our forces," Shimari told reporters.

US military officials accuse Iran of arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq, a charge Tehran denies.

Iran in turn blames the violence in Iraq, in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, on the American-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Some Washington and US Embassy officials in Iraq have noted recent improvements in Iran's involvement in Iraq, but the US military says Iranian weapons and components are still being found in Iraq.

[Southack]

Nice find!

Not many shooting at our boys making this raid, either.

[Army Air Corps]

Ping

[JohnBovenmyer]

The Mullah's replacements for this cache will be backordered. They seem to have lost the factory.

[onedoug]

Vietnam, same-same.

[Defiant]

Look how these biased bastards take objective fact and try to turn it into a "he said, Mahmoo said" situation:

US military officials accuse Iran of arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq, a charge Tehran denies.

Iran in turn blames the violence in Iraq, in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, on the American-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003

[MDspinboyredux]

Please elaborate?

[Atlantian]

Thanks for posting this. It’s wonderful news for me since I have a son working as a civilian contractor at a base near Diwaniyya. He called last week and said the camp had been heavily hit.

Things should be quieting down now.

[omega4179]

Every iranian munition we find should be sent to opposition inside iran. We must re-learn this proxy warfare to compete with axis countries.

[Yo-Yo]

Man, the DemocRATS had better get this surrender thing on the fast track before it's too late!

</sarc>

[irish guard]

This thing in Iraq has turned a nice corner. No way they find this stuff without help from the locals.

[onedoug]

How many more American lives must be lost before islamism is crushed?

[Dilbert56]

Seems like a lot of these raids are using huge numbers of troops and plenty of firepower. Great. No escape. Let all those scum live in fear that the sound of an approaching chopper is the Grim Reaper calling.

Kill as many as you can troops. Every one that dies there won't come back to haunt us in the future. If enough terrorists die meaningless deaths, eventually the recruit pipeline will dry up. Eventually the recruits will ask their mentors: "If martyrdom is so great, why aren't you coming along?"