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WASHINGTON, May 28, 2008 – Forces in Iraq captured dozens of suspects and found multiple caches of weapons in recent days, military officials said. Iraqi national policemen discovered a substantial munitions cache early this morning in the Aamel area of Rashid, in southeastern Baghdad. The national police seized 11 explosively formed projectiles -- bombs specifically designed to pierce armored vehicles -- as well as various sizes of mortar rounds, various explosives, rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, sniper rifles, a machine gun, grenades, a rocket sled, mortar base plates, and several artillery timers. “Taking these weapons off the streets of Baghdad is a tremendous...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized multiple munitions caches in southern Baghdad May 23. Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a munitions cache at approximately 3:30 a.m. May 23 in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The Soldiers seized 107 mm rockets, plastic explosives and fuses inside an abandoned house in the Bayaa community. Iraqi National Policemen from the 1st Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, located a weapons cache May 23 at approximately 2 p.m. while conducting a patrol in the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers discovered multiple weapons caches and killed five criminals May 23 in Baghdad. Iraqi Security Forces from 43rd Brigade, 11th IA Division, discovered a weapons cache in the Bayaa area of Rashid consisting of four explosively formed projectiles, four claymore mines, 10 rocket-propelled-grenade rockets, an AK-47 and 600 AK-47 rounds, 50 pounds of homemade explosives, a 152 mm Yugoslavian projectile, a detonation cord, and firing wire and caps for improvised explosive devices. Northwest of Baghdad, MND-B Soldiers acted on a tip from a local citizen and found a weapons cache,...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq – A local sheik, informed by a Sons of Iraq member, gave a tip to Coalition forces, leading them to a huge munitions cache approximately 13 kilometers south of Baghdad May 21.Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), retrieved the cache containing 268, 57 mm mortar rounds; two, 82 mm mortars and four, 107 mm rocket casings.None of the rounds were serviceable, but they could have been alternately used as improvised explosive devices.The munitions were turned over to Iraqi Army personnel at a nearby compound.                                                                          -30-

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers unearthed a significant cache of mortar rounds at approximately 8:30 p.m. May 16 while on patrol in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached to the1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found 21 82 mm mortar rounds and 17 60 mm rounds while on patrol in the Furat community of Rashid. "Significant finds like these hamper enemy activity by pressuring the enemy and keeping the munitions off the streets,” said Maj. Dave...

The Iraqi minister of defense pushed the debate with the Iranians over their provision of weapons to Shia militias one more step on Monday. Minister Abdul Qadir Obeidi indirectly confronted the Iranians, without naming them, with new findings that prove their involvement in the arming of Shia militias.On Monday, state-owned al-Sabah published a statement by the minister in which he spoke of the capture of a certain type of rocket that was never found in militia-held caches until now: Defense minister Abdul Qadir Mohammed Obeidi revealed that army troops found a 200-mm ground-to-ground rocket manufactured in 2007 during a search...

EFP cache found in Warij Saturday, 03 May 2008 Multi-National Corps – Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory APO AE 09342 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASE No. 20080503-10 May 3, 2008 EFP cache found in Warij FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Coalition forces found a weapons cache of explosively formed penetrators in the southern Baghdad community of Warij May 2. Soldiers from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division were on patrol in Warij when they discovered four EFPs hidden in a closet shelf in a factory office. A brand new 107 mm rocket was...

MEXICO CITY, April 30, 2008 – The movement of a second aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf this week doesn’t signal an escalation of the U.S. naval presence -- but could serve as a “reminder” of it to countries in the region, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here last night. Gates did not specifically name Iran when responding to a reporter’s question about the arrival this week of USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf. “The size of our naval presence in the Gulf rises and falls constantly,” he said. “This deployment has been planned for a long time. I...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 11 suspected terrorists, detained three others, and seized weapons caches in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. During operations this morning in the Iraqi capital: -- Enemy fighters using small-arms fire attacked soldiers from 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, around 9 a.m. Troops fired a round from their main tank gun, killing one attacker. The soldiers fired another round minutes later at some men attempting to use an improvised rocket launcher. The round killed two of the would-be attackers and destroyed their weapon. -- Multinational Division Baghdad...

HABBANIYAH, Iraq — The war has changed. No longer are Marines kicking in doors and battling insurgents with continuous gunfire. Instead, they are walking through the war-torn streets of Iraq, the same streets that just a few short years ago were the sights of horrendous warfare, where Marines are now continuously greeted by hoards of children, with their parents or guardians watching, smiling from a distance. Now, with the future of their children at stake, the Iraqi people are taking their own ‘stand’ against al-Qaeda, giving the Marines tips on the locations of weapons, explosives caches or ‘bad guys,’ when...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 42 members of Iranian-backed “special groups,” detained eight terrorism suspects, and seized weapons in Iraq over the past four days, military officials said. During operations in northeastern Baghdad yesterday: -- Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers manning a checkpoint retaliated against a large group that attacked them around 6:35 p.m. with small-arms fire. The U.S. component of the combined force used 120 mm fire from M1A12 Abrams tanks and small-arms fire, killing 22 attackers and forcing the rest to flee. No U.S. or Iraqi soldiers were harmed or killed. --...

The United States has the combat power to strike Teheran if needed, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Friday. He alleged Iran was ratcheting up its support for militias in Iraq by providing them with newly manufactured weapons and bringing them across the border to receive training from members of Teheran's Republican Guard. Mullen said the military is preparing to roll out evidence, including date stamps on newly found weapons caches, to prove that recently made Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq at a steadily increasing rate. He would not detail the evidence, which...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 22 suspected terrorists, captured 37 others, and seized weapons caches in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said. During operations today: -- An air weapons team fired a Hellfire missile at four criminals as they attempted to emplace an improvised explosive device in northeastern Baghdad around 1 a.m. The missile killed all four and destroyed the IED. -- A separate AWT witnessed two criminals setting up a firing position in northeastern Baghdad at about 1:30 a.m. The AWT engaged with one Hellfire missile and killed one criminal; the...

NEW YORK (AFP) — The US military says it has found Iranian-made mortars, rockets and explosives in Iraq bearing recent date stamps, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday."You can see the manufacturing dates right on the armaments themselves," a senior commander in Baghdad was quoted as saying. "These are very clearly weapons that were made in the last month or so."Iran denies supplying ammunition to Iraqi militants, or training them.Earlier this week, a US general in Iraq said that the increasingly sophisticated attacks carried out by Shiite extremists were evidence that they were getting extra aid from Iranian groups...

WASHINGTON - Iran is ratcheting up its support for militias in Iraq, providing them with newly manufactured weapons and bringing them across the border to receive training from members of Tehran's elite Republican Guard, U.S. military officials said Friday. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military is preparing to roll out evidence, such as date stamps on newly found weapons caches, that shows that recently made Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq at a steadily increasing rate. Mullen would not detail the evidence, which is expected to be unveiled by military leaders in Iraq...

Habbaniyah, Iraq – Marines of 2nd Battalion 24th Marines, Regimental Combat team 1 discovered nine caches north of Habbaniyah, Iraq April 8, 2008. The nine caches included more than 29,000 small arms rounds, 170 mortar rounds and assorted fuses, 104 artillery rounds, 47 grenades, 86 rocket propelled launchers, 15 anti-personnel and tank mines and two SA-7 surface-to-air missiles. Also found at the sites were several compressed gas cylinders, 10 pounds of high explosives and an assortment of detonation cords, triggering devices, electrical blasting caps, fuses, primers and several cell phones. The sites also included more than 35 rockets, rocket launchers,...

TIKRIT, Iraq – The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement discovered a large weapons cache in the eastern desert of Diyala Province April 11. The cache contained more than 100 anti-personnel mines as well as anti-tank mines and a 155mm projectile. The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement in northern Iraq contains more than 8,700 agents and covers nine points of entry into the country. They also patrol the border and conduct other assigned law enforcement duties. “Iraqi Border Enforcement is an invaluable asset towards the security of Iraq,” said Maj. Peggy Kageleiry, a Multi-National Division – North spokesperson.

TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Soldiers discovered three weapon caches of various munitions and explosives northeast of Kirkuk, April 10. The caches included 60mm Chinese mortars, 82mm Chinese mortars, 57mm Chinese projectiles, 120mm Chinese mortar high explosives, 60mm Iraqi mortars, more than 50 85mm Iraqi rocket motors, 105mm Iraqi projectiles, 40mm projected fuses, 130 Russian projectiles, Russian fuses and an 85mm Russian projectile. The explosives and weapons were likely to be used against Coalition forces, Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi citizens. This is the third large cache found in this area within a week. The cache was in an area previously...

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military says the largest cache of armour-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators has been found south of Baghdad. A statement says Iraqi troops acting on a tip Wednesday found more than 1,000 bomb components in a six-ton truck in a garage in the town of Qassim. American commanders allege that the EFPs come from Iran. Tehran denies the allegations. The military says the cache included more than 1,360 kilograms of explosives, multiple 107 mm rockets and stands along with other munitions. Sunday's statement says the cache has been moved to the nearby city of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – A local tip led Iraqi Security Forces to the largest explosively-formed penetrator cache found to date in Multi-National Division – Center’s area of operation, April 2. The munitions were discovered in a 6-ton truck in a garage in al Qasim, Iraq. The cache contained more than 1000 EFP components, more than 3000 pounds of explosives and multiple 107 mm rockets and stands. The cache also included more than 200 C-4 demolition charges, more than 10,000 feet of detonation cord, more than 2,000 projectile boosters, 10 devices used to detonate improvised explosive devices, 250 PKC...