TROOPS FIND WEAPONS CACHE NEAR AR RAMADI

(I-Newswire) July 3, 2005 - CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq � Iraqi Security Forces from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division and Coalition forces from the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, uncovered seven weapons caches, a car-bomb factory and a roadside bomb making factory late afternoon on June 30 in the Industrial area, northeast of the Saddam Mosque during a patrol to disrupt terrorist activity last night.

This was the first patrol the Iraqi Soldiers conducted with Coalition forces in the area. The Iraqi Soldiers were tipped off to the locations of the caches and factories by local residents. The combat-tested Iraqi battalion, approximately 600 Soldiers, arrived from Baghdad June 28. Their arrival brings the total number of Iraqi Security Forces in the Ramadi area to approximately 2,500 Soldiers. Additional Iraqi battalions are scheduled to arrive throughout the summer.

The Iraqi Soldiers discovered the car-bomb factory with a vehicle rigged with explosives at an automotive repair shop in Ramadi. A bomb-making factory was located at a second location with 45 fully prepared roadside bombs inside.

Items uncovered at the weapons caches by IA Soldiers and Coalition forces include: a large quantity of bomb-making materials, hundreds of artillery and mortar rounds, dozens of rockets, 55 rifles and machine guns with ammunition, 26 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 65 grenades, masks and explosives of various types.

Two foreign males found at a cache site are being questioned in connection to bomb making.

Iraqi Soldiers and Coalition forces continue to work together to rid Iraq of terrorists and foreign fighters and to make Iraq safer for all Iraqis.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool, Public Affairs Officer, PoolJS@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil.




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